Walsall boss sweats on skipper
Walsall manager Chris Hutchings is sweating on Mark Hughes' fitness as he relies on his captain's powers of recovery.
The 22-year-old picked up a hip injury in training this week and is a major doubt for the visit of Gillingham tomorrow.
Hutchings admitted the damage is in a problematic area and they have left Hughes to rest rather than try and treat the knock.
The manager said: "He's just got a little niggle which has been irritating him on and off, he's been OK with it but it's gradually got worse.
"He's got through and is an honest lad so wants to train, but it's got to the stage where it's too irritable to train so he's had a few days off.
"Trying to treat right behind your hip bone is a difficult area to get to. You can't make it a long-term thing, with the hip it's in an area where you can't really treat.
"It's a difficult one and we hope the rest will cure it to enable him to play. It's one of those things and he's in the hands of physio Jon Whitney."
Stephen Roberts and Rhys Weston are vying to replace Hughes should he miss out and Hutchings won't hesitate to give Roberts his first League One start since December after his recovery from injury.
He said: "Robbo needs games, he'll be the first to admit that. Ideally, at the start of the season, we could have done with some reserve games to keep his fitness levels up. He's worked extremely hard and his last game was probably a fortnight ago.
"If I had to throw him in I wouldn't have any worries."
