Paul Doswell may be in the middle of an unprecedented injury crisis, but he is remaining upbeat.

Seven first team regulars could not train on Tuesday, and although some are expected to run out at the Lane this weekend when Eastbourne Borough arrive in town, how long they will last is anyone’s guess.

Moreover, while Doswell recruited the services of Billy Medlock from Tonbridge Angels last week, he has admitted that the loan signing of former United winger Damian Scannell from Bromley is a “dead duck”.

However, the emergence of Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick from the reserves has put a smile on the manager’s face.

He said: “Shaquille has really impressed me. He’s signed a development contract, and we’ve given him a chance in the first team, which is massive for him.

“He is a very talented young player and credit must go to James [Bracken, reserve team manager] for Shaquille’s step up.”

He added: “At training we had more players in the treatment room than on the training pitch.

“Dale Binns is out for months rather than weeks with a knee injury from the Hayes game.

“Callum Hart, Charlie Clough, Shaun Cooper, Kevin Amankwaah and Nick Bignall are all struggling, and Louis John is wandering around with a knee brace on.

“It have never known anything like it.”

Despite the injuries, United picked up a Conference South point at Hayes on Sunday, although Doswell is convinced they deserved more.

“Any point away from home in the Conference South is a good point, but we had about 20 shots to their one and we were unlucky not to come away with more.”