By Admin@Swifthalf
January 12 2005

Just when we at Swifthalf thought things at Bescot couldn’t get any worse, they just did.. The Saddlers will now have to beat Chesterfield on Saturday without both Paul McShane and Tony Nhleko. His month long loan was almost over anyway but the presence of the tough tackling defender against Chesterfield would certainly have helped.Ian Roper, who made his comeback in the reserves’ 4-1 defeat to Preston this week, is not yet ready for first team action so Merson won’t have much of a defensive selection headache. Messrs Aranalde, Bennett, Emblen and Wright are sure-fire starters.

Nhleko meanwhile, still hasn’t had his work permit application approved. Merse did want him to face Doncaster on New Years Day but the Saddlers are still waiting, twelve days later.

"There have been complications with Toni's application," said chief executive Roy Whalley. "I'm not privy to what they are but these things can be complex and our lawyers are now trying to unravel the issue. They are in correspondence with the British consul in South Africa and the player himself is out there trying to resolve it. We're pretty much resigned to it not being cleared up before the weekend. We're hoping for next week but there are no guarantees at all. It is very frustrating."

Meanwhile, Burton boss Nigel Clough is hoping to extend the loan of midfielder Kris Taylor. The former Man U youngster has netted 3 goals in 4 games from midfield.