Hartlepool United boss Darren Sarll admits experienced defender Tom Parkes is "50-50" ahead of Saturday's visit of Braintree Town
Hartlepool United boss Darren Sarll admits defender Tom Parkes is touch-and-go ahead of this weekend's visit of Braintree.
The 32-year-old was forced off in the first half of Monday's defeat to Woking with a shoulder injury and Pools missed his experience and leadership after going down to 10 men following Jack Hunter's red card.
Parkes has a chequered history with injuries and was sidelined for a whopping 522 days following a serious knee problem during his time north of the border with Livingston.
However, he has hardly missed a minute since arriving at Pools in January other than when he was forced off with concussion against Barnet at the back end of last term.
Sarll admitted the veteran centre-half had been struggling with his shoulder during Saturday's draw with Wealdstone but was passed fit to play ahead of the long trip to Surrey.
He went down under a challenge at the Kingfield Stadium and tried gamely to continue, cradling his arm as though it were a sling, but was forced off as Pools finished the game with their third and fourth choice centre-backs on the pitch.
Luke Waterfall is set to return this weekend after being rested for the game at Woking which should take some of the pressure off Parkes; while neither were faultless on bank holiday Monday, both Billy Sass-Davies and Manny Onaraise proved themselves capable deputies.
Even so, Sarll will be hoping to have Parkes available ahead of the visit of an in-form Braintree side as the new boss bids to mastermind his first win at the Prestige Group Stadium since his appointment in April.
"I actually thought losing Tom was as damning as losing Jack (Hunter)," he told BBC Radio Tees Sport.
"You think of the charisma that the two bring - we went on to our third captain.
"It was a huge miss for us, Tom's been excellent, absolutely fantastic.
"I love what he's doing and I love how he embraces defending.
"He hasn't trained yet. I think it will be 50-50 for Saturday, it may even be that we give him a fitness test on Saturday before the game.
"It's Thursday today, he's definitely not training today.
"Maybe we'll see him out there tomorrow, maybe we'll be waiting until quarter to three to see if we can roll him down the tunnel."