PHIL Starbuck has slammed the Nationwide Conference after they forced Leigh RMI to play at Canvey Island on Saturday with only SEVEN fit players.

Mumps and flu left the club collecting doctors' notes towards the end of the week to comply with Conference regulations. But the league would not accept the ruling and instructed the club to go ahead with the fixture, or risk a four-figure fine and expulsion from the league.

"We would have had a right to appeal but we couldn't afford to do that," explained the RMI boss. "But we have players who aren't in the best shape after playing and were being sick during and after the match.

"We followed all the correct procedures but because seven players officially constitutes a team, we were forced to field a

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side." Some players started the game well below match fitness, but the Railwaymen could not even fill the substitutes' bench.

The League were unavailable for comment on RMI's claims.

Starbuck was one of only three available substitutes for his besieged side in Essex and intends to pack some reserve team action into midweek in a bid to be fit in time for Saturday's FA Cup final qualifier at Accrington Stanley.

"We have a lot of young lads in the side who have never played at Conference level before, and they did us proud at Canvey", explains the boss.

"We might be forced to use them again at Accrington, and I know that they wouldn't let us down. We certainly owe Stanley a good hiding!"

Accrington crashed to a 4-0 defeat themselves at the weekend as Scarborough ran riot at the McCain Stadium. Their loss of form offers RMI hope of a genuine cup upset, with a five-figure sum and a place in the First Round Proper the reward for the winners.