by Alex Hoad

Canterbury head coach Andy Pratt says he has never known an injury crisis as bad as the one his squad is suffering at the moment.

The city club were beaten 38-17 at home to National 2 South leaders Worthing on Saturday and while Pratt said he would make no excuses, he was missing several key players through injury.

Lock Tom Burns has been ruled out for 12 months with a torn cruciate ligament. Matt Pinnock, Tom Rogers and Chris Hinkins are on the sidelines for at least a month, while scrum-half Craig Tandy broke his hand against Worthing.

Skipper Pete Kelly has a hamstring injury which may not be risked while Tom Best is unavailable and scrum half Dave Marshall doubtful for Canterbury's trip to Chinnor on Saturday.

Pratt (pictured) admitted: "We had four first-choice forwards out and a couple of others last week. I’m not going to use it as an excuse.

"Our squad is being tested, that’s for sure. We’ve always had injuries but I’ve never known it to be this harsh before."

Do you think Canterbury can put their injury woes aside and beat Chinnor? Have your say below.