MANAGER Carl Heeley hopes for some better luck with injuries after admitting his Worcester City squad is “down to the bare bones”.

Striker Daniel Nti (hamstring) and centre-backs Shabir Khan (hernia) and Richard Munday (hamstring) all missed Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to North Ferriby United.

On-loan winger Niall Thompson (illness) and striker Danny Glover (back) have also been struggling and were only fit to appear as second-half substitutes at Aggborough.

Thompson, Glover and Munday could all be ready for Saturday’s trip to Harrogate but Nti is a doubt and Khan may need surgery.

Heeley drafted in former Weston-super-Mare defender Immanual Parry for the North Ferriby match but admits his options are limited. He said: “It was about getting 11 fit players on to the pitch and putting them into a formation.”

“Shabir is not going to improve unless he has surgery, he might be able to play a game and then he’ll be out for 10 days.

“Hopefully, Daniel will settle down although he wasn’t fit enough on Saturday.

"Richard is probably the one who’s closest to returning but we need a clear week for things to clear up because we were down to the bare bones and lacking options.”

Heeley continued: “Niall had been ill all week and the best we were going to get from him was 45 minutes. I didn’t really want to use Danny but we were trying to get a goal and put him on as a last throw of the dice.

“Had Niall been well enough, he’d have been a definite starter but all three substitutes made a good impact. We had our best spell then.”

The result leaves Worcester second-from-bottom in Skrill North with only nine points from 13 games, while North Ferriby jump up to second.

Heeley added: “North Ferriby were fifth in the league and marginally better than us. It was a scrappy game, the weather conditions played a huge part and I think everybody would agree it was a poor spectacle.

“The only bit of quality was their front two but they cost a lot of money. It’s a cruel blow when you’ve only got a small squad and you lose four or five players.”