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All change for coach Edwards as Leeds Carnegie hit by recalls
MISSING OUT: Will Cliff, with ball, will be one of a number of high profile absentees for Leeds Carnegies trip to Plymouth.
Diccon Edwards has revealed his frustration after being forced to make several enforced changes ahead of Saturday’s long trip to Championship strugglers Plymouth Albion (3pm).
Edwards’ pre-match plans have been hampered by the news that Sale Sharks have recalled loan pair Will Cliff and Jordan Davies for their weekend Amlin Challenge Cup game at Spanish minnows La Vila owing to an injury crisis.
In addition, Leicester Tigers have also called back hugely-talented teen George Ford – who turned in a majestic performance at fly-half in Carnegie’s 42-32 win at Moseley last week – ahead of their Heineken Cup clash at Ulster.
Carnegie are now waiting to see if he will be available for the Bedford game on January 29, with Tigers having a LV Cup match that weekend.
Also unavailable for the clash at Albion is powerhouse prop Mike MacDonald, out for 10 to 12 weeks after breaking a bone and tearing a tendon in his hand against Mose.
Skipper Andy Titterrell has returned early to Carnegie after a loan stint at Sale, with the hooker not registered to play in Europe – although he won’t feature at Plymouth.
Head coach Edwards said: “We will make four enforced changes that we wouldn’t have made, all things being equal.
“It’s a little bit frustrating. The intention was that we would have the (Sale) players all season and that’s unfortunate. But it was done in good faith and it’s a one-off just because of the situation they find themselves in with injuries.
“We’ll have them (Cliff and Davies) for the rest of the season; it’s just unfortunate that this week, they are going to have to go back to Sale – sometimes that’s the way it is with loan arrangements.
“Mike’s obviously disappointed with his injury and it’s a blow for the club, definitely.
“But he’ll work hard on his fitness over the next few weeks. When you are hit by injuries, you’ve just got to get on with it and it’s an opportunity for someone else.
“We wanted to maintain some continuity from last week when our performance, certainly in attack, was the best we’ve produced this season. But whether it’s injuries or unavailability, you have to deal with it and get the best out of the group you’ve got.
“It’s a shame, but what it does is give an opportunity for other players to step up and show why they should be starting in the team.
“I’m very confident in the players we’ve got who are stepping up. It’s a disappointment in some aspects, but a positive in others.”
Confirming that Titterrell won’t feature at Bricklands tomorrow, Edwards added: “We made our decision on what we would do with our hookers in January, based on Andy being away for a month. We’ll stay true to that.
“Andy is very much part of our squad, but we said we wanted to give opportunities to Scott Freer and Phil Nilsen and we’re going with them this week and we’ll see where it leads them for the Bedford game.”
Carnegie face a real crisis club in second-from-bottom Albion tomorrow, with the Devonians currently needing to raise around £250,000 to avoid going into administration, which would mean almost certain relegation – and a loss of £300,000 in central funding.
On and off the pitch, Albion – who sacked director of rugby Graham Dawe in November and then lost his replacement Peter Drewett at the end of December for financial reasons – are fighting their lives.
But despite winning just once in their past eight matches, plenty of spirit was shown last weekend in a narrow 21-17 loss at London Scottish.
And Albion have been bolstered by the loan arrival of ex-player Sione Tu’ipulotu on loan from Worcester ahead of tomorrow’s game, which sees Carnegie full-back Tommy Bell return to his home city.
Edwards, who has secured the services of prop Sam Lockwood for another 18 months, added: “Plymouth are like a number of sides who are desperate at this stage to try and get what they can from their last five league games of the season. Initially, they are wanting to get out of the bottom four to get themselves some confidence and form going into the play-offs.
“We know every side at home are hard to beat and Plymouth went really close to winning at London Scottish and we know what are a really strong side they are to beat, having scraped past them in the last minute the previous week.
“We are just hoping to build on the attacking intent we showed last week and put them under pressure with the ball in hand.”
Meanwhile, Edwards has confirmed that Mike Ford will continue his role with the Leeds Carnegie coaching team until the end of the season.
Ford was yesterday announced as part of the new Newcastle Falcons coaching staff, however Edwards explained that he will still work with Leeds until the end of their Championship campaign.
* Packman Kane Palma-Newport makes his last Leeds Carnegie appearance tomorrow before returning to Bath as cover during the Six Nations.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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