Clarke injury blow for Oldham

Oldham forward Chris Clarke will miss Sunday’s play-off game against Workington with a hamstring injury.

Clarke, 23, suffered the injury in training last night, although coach Martin Roden has been boosted by the returns of Jamie Acton (suspension) and Valu Bentley (calf).

Roden said: “We will miss him massively. He isn’t a flash player, he’s a prop, and a very good one too. He’s aggressive, he makes the hard yards and he hurts people when he tackles them.

“When he pulled up last night and we saw it was a bad one, he was distraught.

“I was gutted for him too. He so much wanted to go up to Workington and help us to beat them for the third time this season. I guess it’s the story of our season.”

Roden expects to pick from the 17 who played at Gateshead, minus Clarke, plus Acton, Danny Langtree, Chris Murphy and possibly Bentley.