HEREFORD FC have been dealt an injury blow ahead of the festive fixtures after defender Martin Riley popped his shoulder out in the dying seconds of their goalless draw with Guiseley.

The 33-year-old has already missed a large part of the season after suffering the same injury and is facing another lengthy spell on the side-line.

“Martin has gone and popped the shoulder again which is absolutely disastrous really,” said Bulls manager Russell Slade.

I feel for the boy as he has just got himself back and in the last couple of weeks in training he has got better and stronger.

“To lose him is a huge blow. He is a good character as well and great to have in the changing room and for that to happen again will be hard to take for him to be honest.

“We’ve got Jack (Bodenham) and Josh (Gowling) as well so we have got opportunities for somebody else to step up. (Jason) Pope likes to think that’s a strong position for him as well, he’s quite versatile, so we have got options but it’s still disappointing that we’ve lost Martin.”