HELENSBURGH Rugby Club captain Ally Rogers has admitted injuries have taken their toll on the Grizzlies in recent weeks, but he has backed the side to get back to winning ways against Oban Lorne on Saturday.

Burgh came out the traps flying this season, notching up two wins from their first two league games, including breaking a year-long away day hoodoo at Garnock. It has been a struggle from then however with four defeats on the trot, with several key players suffering injuries, coach Iain Ross has had to deal with a thin squad.

Rogers revealed he has been playing through the pain barrier to aid Burgh’s cause such is their injury plight. However with players nearing a return to fitness, Rogers is confident Burgh will soon be back on track, starting on Saturday as they travel to newly promoted Oban Lorne.

He said: “We have been unfortunate with injuries. Players like Michael Kinsman, my brother Phil are both out with long terms injuries. One of our better players this season Scott Simmons was injured on Saturday. We’re losing players and not being able to turn out a consistent team, it’s a bit of a patchwork job just now compared to the start of the season when it was a consistent team.

“It’s a bit of damage limitation at the moment until we can get everyone fit. We need to manage players, I’ve got a few bangs and lumps that in past seasons I would’ve probably missed a game to recover from. But because the depth isn’t there just now I’m having to do some running repairs.

“We expect a big fight up front against Oban, it will be a difficult game. But the squad is looking sharper going into this weekend because more guys are now available.” Burgh lost 29-10 to Newton Stewart at Ardencaple on Saturday. Despite the defeat, Rogers insists the result hinged on a few small details which Newton Stewart were able to capitalise on.

He added: “It went ok, there was a bit of a turning point with a missed penalty and we didn’t capitalise on the return of the ball. A couple of mistakes led to them taking charge of the game. “Unfortunately Kane Greggain was yellow carded, we conceded two tries in 10 minutes and it was hard to regroup from then. A couple of small moments in the match gave them a lot of points and to be fair they took them when they were on offer.”