Deal boss Derek Hares has welcomed the return of striker Sam Wilson after three months out.

Wilson made his comeback from a knee injury in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Erith Town.

Hares revealed the forward turned out as a favour in light of the Hoops’ injury list.

But he should only get fitter and that’s good news for a Deal side who have missed his threat in front of goal.

Hares said: “Sam’s still not 100% but he did us a favour because we were short on numbers.

“We wouldn’t normally have played him but we had to in the position we were in and he got through 90 minutes.

“He’s been able to run and do everything but when he kicks the ball he can’t get any real power behind it.

“We’ll see if he has any reaction from Saturday but hopefully we’ll be able to get one game a week out of him.

“He’s a good one to have back as he’s always got a goal in him.

“That’s something we’ve struggled to do recently.

“We’ve been creating good chances – we created a lot more than Erith – but we haven’t been taking them.”

Kane Smith (ankle), Macauley Murray (thigh), Ben Cardwell (hamstring) and Harry Alexander (calf) missed the Erith defeat while Liam Hark and Jack Penny were unavailable.

The sooner they’re all back, the better, with Deal playing catch-up in Southern Counties East following their FA Vase exploits.

The Hoops, whose game at Bearsted last night was postponed, visit Punjab on Saturday and host leaders Beckenham next Tuesday.

All the midweek action means training is on the back-burner.

Hares said: “We’ve still got 15 games to go. That’s a lot of football to play.

“I think we’re two games a week pretty much for the rest of the season now.

“We don’t normally train if we have a midweek game.

“With all the travelling, it’s asking a lot to expect them to come down for training as well.

“The players know what they’re doing and we’ll still a lot of each other.”

Meanwhile, Deal fans are setting up a new supporters’ club.

An open meeting will be held in the clubhouse on Sunday, March 1 (12noon).

To get in touch, email dtsc@dtsc.co.uk, search Deal Town Supporters’ Club on Facebook or find them on Twitter using the handle @DTFC_Supporters.

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