THE absence of almost a dozen players from Chippenham Town’s squad during Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Dartford will act as a positive learning curve for some of the club’s younger players moving forward, admits manager Mark Collier.

Collier was handed a selection headache – not of the good kind – hours before kick-off when star players Nick McCootie and Curtis McDonald both pulled out through injury, adding to the list of already absent players which included first team regulars Jack Compton and Alex Ferguson.

Returning Andy Sandell, who had spent a month on loan at Melksham, was consequently drafted into the starting XI.

However, his game only lasted seven minutes after he picked up a knee injury.

The extensive list of players missing through injury, suspension or illness made Saturday’s defeat a little easier to take for Collier – who was pleasantly surprised by the impact five of his U21 players made on the game.

He said: “We’re obviously disappointed. But we were 10 men short because of injuries, suspensions and illnesses.

“We were always going to be up against it, and we finished the game with five players under 21 on the pitch – which proves the squad was stretched.

“I felt sorry for the players, especially the younger ones, because we deserved to get something from the game.

“Dartford scored a freak winner following a mistake by our goalkeeper (Brad Hill) – who was excellent all afternoon. We didn’t deserve to lose, so it’s harsh on the players.

“We were hampered with selection, but we need to put this behind us and move on.”

The loss was Chippenham’s second league defeat on the bounce and has dropped the Bluebirds down to 11th in the National League South.

Eighteen points from their opening 12 games is still a significant improvement on last season, though and that positive mentality is something that Collier wants to spread throughout the dressing room – unlike the sickness bug which claimed the starting spots of McCootie and McDonald, who he hopes will return for next Saturday’s FA Cup fourth qualifying round clash against Maidenhead United.

“The younger players will learn from this game, so that’s a positive moving forward,” said Collier.

“There were two or three players out there that hadn’t had much game time prior to Saturday, and they got a full 90 minutes play under their belts.

“Their showing proved they can compete at this level, which is a bonus. However, that doesn’t mask over the fact that we lost the game.

“Hopefully three, four or maybe even five players missing from this week can give me something to think about selection wise for next week.

“Credit to Dartford, they played well and got the points – I’m sure we’ll do that to teams as some point between now and the end of the season.”