WORCESTER City manager Carl Heeley is not expecting to have any of his injured defenders back in time for Saturday’s visit of Hinckley United.

A casualty list already comprising Ellis Deeney (ankle), Jacob Rowe (knee), Stuart Whitehead (groin), Danny Edwards (knee) and keeper Glyn Thompson (thigh) was further compounded by Lee Ayres damaging his Achilles in the defeat at Workington.

Captain Whitehead is rated as having the best chance of returning to the side for the St George’s Lane match but Heeley is not overly optimistic.

“I would think Stuart has got the best chance but none of them are training yet so it’s very unlikely,” the manager said.

With Hinckley bottom of Blue Square Bet North and already relegated, Worcester will be hoping for success at the weekend but the City boss is not taking the Knitters for granted.

He said: “They have been relegated but they’ll have their pride and nobody is going to come and roll over.

“It’s an opportunity to win a game but it’s not going to be easy. If we don’t approach it correctly they will cause problems.”