Gladiators upbeat despite Swedish departure

Matlock Town manager Mark Atkins is facing a striking crisis after revealing that Bradley Grayson is quitting to play in Sweden while Anthony Griffiths-Junior could miss the remainder of the season with injury, writes Ian Richardson.

The pair will miss the club's Evo-Stik Northern Premier League run-in and their Derbyshire Senior Cup Final against Ilkeston at the end of April. Atkins wished Grayson well despite admitting he’d been in the dark about his departed player's plans.

He said: "It's disappointing the way things have turned out and how it's been done. It's obviously something that's not been done overnight and he's never said anything earlier. We don't know the name of the club he's joining but it's obviously something he wants to do so we hope things turn out well for him."

Atkins says Griffiths-Junior could be out for three or four more weeks while defender Oscar Radford's season could well be over after the horrendous leg cuts he received in a late challenge during the 1-0 win at Nantwich on February 16. Radford had hopes of being fit for the Derbyshire Senior Cup Final but it looks like he'll be left disappointed.

"A cut's opened up again so it's a setback for him," revealed Atkins. "We're not counting him out for definite but there's a possibility he might miss the season."

Atkins has at least had more positive news on top scorer Lewis McMahon. Apparently, the return of the Artic weather has been a blessing in disguise in giving McMahon more time to return to fitness from a horror tackle in their Doodson Sports League Cup Quarter Final triumph against Farsley.

Atkins said: "It's given Lewis three or four extra days to get fit, he certainly wouldn't have played last Saturday and would have been doubtful on Tuesday night, and most of our other injury doubts from last week should be back."

After Saturday's rearranged trip to AFC Fylde, the Gladiators take on Curzon Ashton in a Doodson Sports League Cup Semi-Final at the Reynolds Stadium on Thursday night [April 4].

The First Division North outfit were reinstated in the competition last week after Witton Albion, who beat them 4-0 in the last round, were expelled from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in an earlier round. Atkins hopes his side can take their chance to reach a second cup final of the campaign and believes they are now in good shape despite their injury woes.

He added: "It's a home tie and that's all you can ask for in a semi-final, they're going well in their league so we certainly won't take them lightly for we want to get through to another final.

"There's been more togetherness about us in the last couple of months or so, everyone's fighting more for each other and it's showing in the performances, even if the points return hasn't been quite what we've deserved. I've been pleased with the way we've gone about our business, we could have won all of our recent games."