Blondel's U21s groan

VALE REC. coach Ray Blondel says his club's youngsters are being overplayed. And the four-times league-winning coach said that it was 'crazy' to play the under-21 Muratti in the middle of the season.

'Craig Tyrrell, Andy Chamberlain and Craig Le Lerre played for the under-21s on Monday, have got a game for us tonight and on Saturday, play for the under-21s again next Monday and then should be playing for us next Tuesday,' said Blondel.

'With under-21 training as well, they're playing too much and they can't train with us. They're being overplayed and it disrupts our preparation.

'Especially with the great set-up the under-18s have got now, maybe the under-21 Muratti has run its course.

'If you can't get into the senior island squad by the time you're 21, you probably never will, so I'm not sure what the point of the under-21 Muratti is. It's definitely crazy to play it in February every year.'

Meanwhile, Blondel has injury concerns ahead of tonight's Priaulx League derby against Northerners, which kicks off at 7.30pm at the Corbet Field.

Four of Vale's first-choice players picked up knocks in Sunday's 4-0 win at Rovers and Blondel is particularly concerned with the fitness of striker Tyrrell and defender Jon Eley.

'Craig's got tendonitis and Jon picked up a back injury. They both had to come off on Sunday. Actually, none of our three defenders should've come out for the second half because they all had knocks.

'We'll have to wait on them and see whether they'll be able to play against North, but it would be fair to say I've got a few headaches because of injuries.'

However, Vale will welcome back midfielder Tristram Morgan, who has served a one-match ban. Defender Neil Sarahs is also available again after returning from a spell abroad.

Despite Blondel's selection problems, he is unlikely to modify his all-out attacking approach for a match that he described as 'massively important for both sides'.

'We've got to get at least a point because that would keep us in touch. A win would obviously be great, but even a draw would still leave things completely in our hands.

Despite the unpredictable weather, Blondel said he expected tonight's game to go ahead, partly for political reasons.

'This season we're playing on pitches that they would normally say are unplayable because of the Island Games. We're rushing through our league programme so that we can get our pitch ready for Sark to come and play on it.'

Northerners will welcome back Gareth Holden, but he may be forced to accept a place on the bench.

'It might be unfair on those lads who did so well against Sylvans to start changing the team around,' said North coach Geoff Tardif. 'But this is a different game on a different pitch and it might require something different from us.'

Tardif refused to name his starting side, but it would be a massive gamble to drop either Jon Veron or Dave Rihoy, the two young strikers whom he brought in with such success for the 5-1 hammering of the champions.

A win for North would take them two points clear of Sylvans at the top of the table. A win for Vale would put them level on points with Sylvans at the summit.

A draw would leave North and Sylvans level on points at the top.