Poppies in the play-offs: Legend Solkhon set to miss out

Brett Solkhon suffered a groin injury while taking this penalty against Farnborough at the weekend and is now set to miss Kettering Town's play-off semi-final at Slough Town tomorrow night. Picture by Peter Short

It has been a memorable campaign for the Poppies stalwart who broke through the 500 appearance mark while he has also enjoyed his best return of goals in a season, having struck 23 times in all competitions.

But he is now likely to miss out on the biggest game of the campaign so far.

Solkhon suffered a groin injury while converting a penalty during Kettering’s 6-2 success over Farnborough at Latimer Park on the final day of the regular season at the weekend.

The 35-year-old was forced off and boss Marcus Law has now admitted he will be “very surprised” if the fans’ favourite proves his fitness before the play-off showdown at Arbour Park.

“I am not hanging my hat on it, it looks like it is a tear and I would be very surprised if he is available,” Law said.

“Brett has once again brought something special to the team this year and it will be a shame if we don’t him on the pitch again this side of pre-season.

“He is our third highest top scorer and he is in the top 10 highest goalscorers in the league. He has done that from playing at centre-half or in midfield so it just shows how good he has been.

“But in this situation, you can’t let sentiment get in the way because the margin for error is now smaller than ever.

“We will miss his influence on the pitch but we have to make sure we are ready to play without him.”

The Poppies will also be checking on the fitness of central defender Tom Marshall who missed the final game of the regular season on Saturday.