Ashford manager Danny Kedwell says he’s been able to name his strongest XI just once all season.
The Nuts & Bolts have suffered a catalogue of injuries, making it difficult to get a settled side.
They have also had suspensions to deal with, forcing Kedwell to sign players on dual-registration to make up the numbers.
It’s not an ideal scenario for Kedwell, who would love nothing more than to get his best XI on the park.
“I had it once, I think, when we beat Walton & Hersham in the FA Trophy,” said Kedwell, whose side are still eighth in Isthmian South East despite the upheaval.
“I’m not making excuses but we’re just constantly fighting for players.
“We’ve never got a full squad. It’s mental and the thing is I said at the beginning, I always want to go with 17/18 players but I’ve had to sign so many players just to fill my bench up and get a squad out.
“I’ve had loads of dual-registrations just to help me out for numbers, which I hate doing.
“It doesn’t sit right with me but we’ve got to do it.
“I know people have got games in hand but I’d love to see where we’d be if I’d had a full squad all season with the players we’ve got.
“You’d be saying, ‘what a squad that is’.
“The trouble is we’ve had two, three, four, five, six missing every single week.
“When you’re managing, you want to be able to look at the bench and go, ‘I’ve got five subs who can change a game’.
“I’ve never had that.”
Ashford, who visit Sevenoaks this Saturday (3pm), were on the wrong end of several big decisions in a 3-2 home defeat by Three Bridges at the weekend.
Gary Lockyer opened the scoring on his return from suspension but Noel Leighton levelled.
The Nuts & Bolts were reduced to 10 men when Barry Fuller was controversially dismissed for handball in
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