Relegation battling Rhyl will head into the final stretch of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League season without influential centre-forward Steve Lewis it has emerged.
Lewis limped off late on in Rhyl’s recent 2-2 draw with Aberystwyth and will be sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, with some fearing he could even miss the rest of the Lilywhites’ campaign.
The 29-year-old has started each of Rhyl’s Phase 2 fixtures scoring once since re-joining the club for a second spell in December.
Rhyl currently occupy one of the two relegation places but are just two points off safety with six games remaining, and manager Niall McGuinness now finds himself short of attacking options in the mould of a target-man centre-forward.
McGuinness is already without Carl Lamb for an indefinite period after the striker tested positive for a banned substance in December and is now subject of an FAW investigation.
That is likely to force the Rhyl boss to turn to Toby Jones and recent signing Josh Davies to carry the side’s goal scoring responsibilities in their battle against the drop.
Jones, who has predominantly featured out wide for Rhyl, netted his fifth WPL goal of the season last weekend after his free-kick secured a vital point against Aberystwyth.
Davies, 23, was also on target in that game, scoring his first for the club after being picked up by McGuinness from Cymru Alliance club Porthmadog.
With a depleted list of forwards available, Rhyl are expected to be reliant on the pair to help fire them to safety starting with Friday night’s clash against Llandudno.
McGuinness is boosted by the return of central defender Mike Sharples and midfielder James Bell for that game. Both are expected to be in contention after returning from injury.
LLANDUDNO SIGN WINGER PARRY
Llandudno have announced that they have secured the loan signing of TNS winger Robbie Parry to strengthen their push for the end of the season play-offs.
22-year-old Parry joins for the remainder of the season after making 12 (6) league appearances for Saints.
Parry is believed to have had a number of offers from WPL clubs on the table but opted for his hometown club much to the delight of manager Llandudno chief Alan Morgan.
“I’ve been after Rob for a while on loan so I’m glad that I’ve finally got him. Hopefully now he can bring his quality in to our team, as we know what he can do as he’s already scored against us this season!”
Parry is expected to make his debut against Rhyl.