Patience is skipper's virtue

Romford's crocked skipper Jack Barry has vowed to bide his time after breaking his ankle in training with less than three weeks to go to the start of the new Ryman League campaign.

The First Division North club's captain regrets setting what is probably a new record for short pre-seasons after being injured within ten minutes of his first run-out.

But Barry, ruled him out for six weeks at least, insists it was natural instinct go into the costly challenge and told the Romford Recorder he'll cope with the frustration and believes the club are still in good shape.

He said: "There is nothing I can do about it, it has happened now and it’s just time to rest it as I have been advised to do. I picked up the injury during our club day (July 6) and I had only been back off holiday for two days, so I was buzzing to get my first run out and it lasted under 10 minutes.

"I went into a tackle which, now I think about it, I didn’t have to make. When you’re playing you don’t think about it, you just want to win the ball. I won the ball but couldn’t get back up because the other player’s studs had smashed me on the ankle and then he landed on me. The hard floor didn’t help!

"Since I picked up my injury I’ve been over to every training session because I still want to be a part of everything. Everyone is working hard and starting to look sharp now, which is good."