STAN Ternent opted not to risk any of his players in the reserves at Oldham Athletic last night.

As he prepares for the tricky trip to Leicester City on Saturday he opted to keep the midfield quartet of Paul Weller, Brad Maylett, Tony Grant and Lee Briscoe under wraps as he guards against further injury problems.

"We have got Dimi and Gareth away on international duty and we hope they will come back fit but we could not risk any more injuries," he said.

Ideally reserve games would be used for returning players to get some serious match action under their belts but this season Ternent has maintained a policy of fielding youngsters instead.

Last night might have been a good one for the four midfielders to play in but if they had hobbled off their absence would have been prolonged.

As it was they were rushed back into action at the weekend and Ternent will again be forced to assess which of the players is most ready for a starting role at Leicester.

"Before the Walsall game I spoke to Weller, Granty and Brizzer and we decided that because Weller had been back in training for a bit longer he would try to give us an hour," he said.

"He did that and then Tony and Brizzer came on but not one of them was at 100 per cent."

The same applies to flying winger Maylett who impressed after his introduction last weekend for his first appearance of the season.

"Brad did really well because he has come back from injury as well," explained Ternent who also chose not to risk him in the second string against the Latics.

Ternent has struggled all season with players missing but he insisted: "If we can get our best side out all the time, and keep the players free from injury and suspension, we will be okay."

Plans to play midfield trialist Eddie Fal in the reserves last night had to be shelved because of a problem with his registration but he was in the stands to see Ronnie Jepson's side battle hard for a 1-0 win, secured thanks to Joel Pilkington's goal on the stroke of half time.