Triple hamstring injury blow for Barrow AFC against Torquay United

Adi Yussuf and Jack Barthram both had to be substituted in the National League encounter – where Barrow claimed a late point thanks to Byron Harrison’s injury-time equaliser.

Added to that, Moussa Diarra spent the latter stages of the game limping and clutching his hamstring on occasions, reduced t a role up front to stop him doing too much running.

Their injury problems add to the serious knee issue which has sidelined Dave Nieskens for the immediate future, and the broken arm suffered in training by Thierry Audel, which will rule him out for around eight weeks.

Interim boss Micky Moore was left pulling his hair out at his bad fortune with injuries – he himself even suffered a sudden post-match nose-bleed while carrying out his press duties – though he would not use the fitness concerns as an excuse for a poor Barrow display against the Gulls.

“I think if you go right back to the first day after Paul left, the two things I said I needed were time and luck. If you look at last Saturday, we lost Dave Nieskens for a long period; Thierry Audel broke his arm on Thursday, and he will be out for a long period of time; Adi Yussuf’s hamstring has gone again; Jack Barthram’s hamstring’s gone; Moussa Diarra’s hamstring has gone.

“We’re down to the bar bones, but still I don’t want to give any excuses for today’s performance, because it wasn’t acceptable.”

Yussuf’s departure came midway through the first half.

He was seen talking with the bench and holding his hamstring before walking straight from the field, down the sidelines and into the changing rooms, followed by the club doctor, without receiving treatment on the pitch.

Moore confirmed it was a recurrence of the problem that saw the striker withdrawn at half-time against Guiseley in midweek, and which had previously seen him miss two games earlier in the season.

“His hamstring went and he had to come off,” said Moore after the match. “He’s in there icing it now, so that’s another injury.”