Lee Clark on the biggest issue he has faced as Rotherham United boss
LEE Clark surveyed Rotherham United's injury nightmare and gave another damning indictment on the problems he has had to battle against since his appointment as manager.
The Geordie has already cited the packed treatment room at the club's Roundwood training base as a huge factor in the club's relegation from League One.
He inherited a near-impossible survival mission on his appointment last month and this week revealed that the eye-watering number of unavailable players has been the toughest aspect of a short-term reign that is due to come to an end after the May 2 final-day trip to Wycombe Wanderers.
Clark, a former Premier League midfielder with Newcastle United and Fulham and boss with 14 years' experience, said: “I've never experienced anything like it as a player, coach or manager at any level. It just leaves you in limbo, really.
“I don't enjoy putting square pegs in round holes when I'm picking teams, but I've had to do that sometimes.
“At Wigan Athletic, because I didn't really have any left-footed defenders, I went with a system that I'm not a particular fan of. It puts you in a position where you're having to do things that you don't really want to do.”
He was referring to the 3-0 loss at the Brick Community Stadium on April 14 when he had to switch from his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation to 3-5-2 for a defeat that confirmed the drop to the fourth tier.
“For my first four or five games, there was basically no point in having a bench because I wasn't making any tactical substitutions,” he said. “It was just substitutions because I knew players could manage only a limited amount of time on the pitch or we'd picked up another injury or two injuries.”
Going into tomorrow's final home match, against Reading, the boss has only 20 players available to him, including 17-year-old deputy goalkeeper Ben Childs who has no senior experience.
Missing from action are Cameron Dawson, Joe Powell, Hamish Douglas, Josh Benson, Shaun McWilliams, Kian Spence, Reece James, Duncan Watmore, Lenny Agbaire, Marvin Kaleta, Liam Kelly, Lino Sousa, Josh Kayode and Ciaran McGuckin.
“You're completely restricted,” Clark said. “The injury situation hasn't improved - and that means that the general situation doesn't improve.”
He has two more fixtures at the helm before he either leaves the club or is offered a longer deal by chairman Tony Stewart.
Whatever his own fate turns out to be, he has stressed the need for a “deep dive” into Rotherham's practices to prevent similar issues next term.