CHIPPENHAM Town academy prospect Luca Robinson is set to make his Westbury United debut at home to Brislington this weekend after Neil Kirkpatrick snapped up the teenage talent on loan.
Robinson’s capture came as welcome news to Kirkpatrick who is keen to boost squad numbers after he last week revealed star player Matt Jones would miss several weeks because of ligament damage.
The United chief hopes Jason Henley, Dan Jordan and Dan Price will also be available for selection, though Joe Stradling is a doubt after he cut his hand badly in an incident at work.
Visitors Brislington – currently 14th in the Toolstation Premier Division – have invested heavily in their squad in recent months.
But that doesn’t deter from the fact that they are seriously short of competitive game time – the last time they played at home was on December 7.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Kirkpatrick said: “Brislington have invested heavily in the past few months, and they’re going to be a tough opponent because of it.
“But, we’ve got nothing to lose and will go out to win the game as we always do. The players they’ve added have played at the top end of our league previously and in the Southern League too.
“They’ve improved as a squad and are strong all round. They’ve hovered in the lower reaches of the division in recent years, so it’s obvious to me that they don’t want to continue doing that.
“I expect them to climb the table.”
Only one game acros the Toolstation League survived Storm Dennis last weekend, but Kirkpatrick took time to praise club volunteers that have made the Meadow Lane pitch one of the best in the division this year.
He added: “The club has been great, they’ve looked after the pitch well this year and the gang of volunteers that work tirelessly every Wednesday have been fantastic.
“There was a picture of the pitch posted on social media in the week, and it looks fantastic.
“Obviously, there will be challenges this weekend because more rain is forecast. But we’ve got as much chance of playing as anywhere else for sure.”
Bradford Town are also in Premier Division action, they host Tavistock.
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