Oxley Vale Attunga have some all-important training sessions coming up as coach Tim Coates looks to whittle down his squad for their Football Federation Australia Cup clash next weekend.
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Coates can only name 16 players for the match with Port Macquarie United on March 13 and will do so without playing any trial matches against other clubs.
"We'll play ourselves in a trial to finalise the squad for the FFA cup," Coates told The Leader.
"We're only able to have 16 players on the card and we need to find out who those 16 players are.
"We'll have a trial at training this week or next week."
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Helping Coates out with the squad selection for next weekend's match - and for the rest of the season - will be David Stanton who has returned to the fold.
"He's at training every night with me. He and I will run things together and bounce ideas of each other - it's good to have that," Coates said.
Coates also confirmed a number of names who would not feature this year for the Mushies.
Jack Diebold and Nash Tapp have headed off to university while a couple more experienced players won't lace up the boots in 2021.
"Luke Purcell damaged his knee last year - he didn't play in the grand final - and he'll be having knee surgery," Coates said.
"Ryan Searl's had back surgery so they're both out for the year."
Coates estimated OVA had lost between six and eight players from their 2020 Premier Division premiership-winning squad.
However, the same amount of players had come to the club, Coates said.
The losses open up opportunities for players coming through the ranks and Coates has identified a couple players in line for promotion.
"Jack Stanton and Jem Barbara have put their hands up and are pushing for starting first grade spots this year," Coates said.
"They've come on very well. They were both on the card in the grand final last year and Jem got on the field.
"They both play in the midfield. Jem plays attacking midfield and Jack is defensive midfield."
Mushies' FFA Cup clash with Port Macquarie will be played in Tamworth.
OVA are looking to play the match at Scully Park but are waiting on confirmation.
If it isn't played at Scully, it will be played on Johnson Field.
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Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
