TERRAS’ full-back Ashley Wells described himself as a “big doubt” for Saturday’s season opener at Biggleswade Town (3pm) with a knee injury, but admitted it was not as bad as he first feared.
The defender was forced off in the first half of Weymouth’s final pre-season friendly against Truro City on Saturday and went to hospital to get the problem looked at the following day.
Having sustained soft tissue damage to the knee, the Terras’ favourite admits he is unlikely to feature against the Waders at the weekend but should be back in action over the next couple of weeks.
He told Echosport: “I haven’t ruled myself out completely for Saturday. I am a big doubt but the swelling has gone down.
“When I first did it I thought it was a lot worse than it was.
“I went in with Bealer (Lloyd Beals, physio), he wanted me to get an X-ray just to make sure.
“I went on the Sunday morning and the pain was quite bad on the Saturday night. To go in there and be told it wasn’t as bad as I first thought was a huge relief.
“They told me I had damaged some soft tissue around my knee. They reckon I will be a few weeks out but I will leave it to Lloyd.”
Pre-season injury gremlins have been cruel to Wells, who sustained a broken ankle in a friendly against Bristol City in July 2012.
“Having done the pre-season work and started to gel with Smicks (Dan Smith) on that side, to be sidelined now is a big blow,” he added.
“We have got some tough games and, if I can’t be part of that, then it will be very frustrating for me.”
The former Portland United man did however take the time to praise club physio Beals for his support.
“He has been very good to me, texting and asking how I am,” Wells added.
“Hopefully he will be able to work wonders!
“I can’t speak highly enough of him, he is very good at what he does and goes out of his way to make sure every lad is alright.
“He has been quite busy with Sam (Jordan) in there, Charlie (Davis) hurt his ankle, he has obviously got me now and he has got Jack Vallis as well.
“But he doesn’t shy away from it, he is still out there in every training session making sure that we can still do other things and that we are keeping ourselves in good shape.”
