Defender Dan Bedford might be ruled out of football for the foreseeable future, but he will make good use of his time.

The 18-year-old centre back suffered a broken leg in a 3-0 Ryman Division One South defeat to Worthing last month and is ruled out until well in to the new year.

The Glyn School student, drafted in from Casuals boss Matt Howard’s Woking U18 academy side to cover for suspended skipper Joe Hicks, is due to sit A-levels in geography, PE and design technology next year.

But he will not let a broken leg knock him off his stride.

“It is not going to be easy, but I can do a lot of my school work at home,” said Bedford, who is currently off school.

“The operation went well and I get the plaster off in six weeks. It should be straight forward from there and hopefully I can get stronger.

“I don’t know what happened. I was just blocking the ball.

"The pressure on my ankle, when it dislocated, broke the tibia as well. 

"I did not really feel anything at the time. It just feels like heavy bruising. The pain only came after the operation.”

Messages of support for Bedford have flooded in from across the UK and Brazil through the club’s connection with south American giants Corinthian Paulista.

Worthing player Jack Fagan tweeted: “Thoughts are with the young centre back Dan today for @CorinthianCas We all wish him a speedy recovery and hope he can come back stronger.”

Fellow Ryman clubs Folkestone Invicta and Guernsey also sent their best wishes via social media, while more than 125 messages of support have been posted on the club’s Facebook page.

"It was great to see all those messages. It makes you feel a lot better," added Bedford.

"There were some from Brazil. It is just nice to see some people actually care."