INJURY ravenged Fairfield Villa were forced to draft in several players ahead of their 4-2 success over Continental Star in the Les James Cup.

Such is the staggering injury list at Villa that no less than nine players are currnetly sidelined.

It meant Villa had to call in Joe Brookes, Scott Clewley and Lewis Phillips for their debuts against Star.

Villa spokesman Paul Oakes said: "I've never known anything like it. Our entire midfield has been wiped out. To make matters worse, all the absent players are first choice.

"We've got Scott Smith and Dan Wilkes missing with ankle injuries, while Keiron Smith, Ellis Blakemore, Scott Halliday and Pete Jenzey all have hamstring problems. You can add James McKeown to the injury list as well, while DJ Pitt and Jasck Martin are suspended.

"We seem to have more players injured than we have playing."

Villa were forced to switch Ellis Blakemore up front against Continental Star but that was to prove a master-stroke as he responded with a hat-trick before going off injured, while another of the walking wounded, Dan Willkes, provided the fourth goal.

Villa have moved to plug some of the gaps by bringing back former player Danny Bostock, who is prepared to travel from Lichfield to play while Aaron Whittaker has been recruited from Sunday football.

Both are set to feature in Saturday's trip to Knowle for a Midland League Division Two game with Oakes adding: "Apart from Scott Smith, there's no real propsect of the others recovering in time."