LEIGH RMI boss Mark Patterson faces a major selection headache ahead of Saturday's league clash with Conference new boys Aldershot Town writes Robert Johnson
Leading goalscorer Dave McNiven is struggling to be fit with a toe injury. He joins Paul Shepherd and Martyn Lancaster who are both out suspended -- with a one and two match ban respectively.
Wayne Maden returns from suspension and will go straight into the squad to face Aldershot.
And Patterson's search for a tall centre forward has so far proven unsuccessful.
But he is confident his make-shift team will give 100 per cent commitment against the ex-Football League club who are enjoying a great start to their first season back in the Nationwide Conference.
Patterson said: "We will get things right on the pitch. We will all pull together as a team and give 100 per cent commitment, that's for sure.
"All football clubs go through a bad patch in a season. But it's harder at clubs like Leigh because we have got such a small squad. It means that players have to play in unfamiliar positions and I cannot play the formations I want to.
"But this is no excuse for any of my players not to give their maximum effort -- and that is what I'm expecting against Aldershot.
"I have been in contact with a manager about a forward who I've been trying to sign, but it looks as though that deal has fallen through. So it's back to the drawing board, and we will continue to look."
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