He'll miss our game as will Lee Mansell who was dismissed in their defeat at Burton recently after he stamped on an opposing players face. Add in to this a fair amount of injuries within the squad means that Torquay, with a small squad like us, are down to bare bones. So much so that they have had to bring in a loan player, Scott Laird, from local rivals Plymouth.
They have injuries to Steve Woods, Lee Phillips and former Harriers target Chris Hargreaves and all will face late fitness tests before the game.
We, of course, will be without the services of Hurren but he will not be missed too much being mainly used in a substitutes role lately. Simon Russell made an appearance late on on Tuesday and without appearing to do much did get himself 'back in the groove' with twenty minutes match practise under his belt. Iyseden Christie will still be out with his groin strain.
Our only other worry is with the goalkeeping situation. Scott Bevan has been out injured for a couple of games now and the second string keeper Dean Coleman has stood in but sadly has not inspired much confidence. If it looks like Bevan will not be fit then Mark Yates has said that he will try to bring in a loan keeper.*
It seems a sad indictment on Yates pre-season dealing that he let Danny Lewis, a perfectly good back up keeper, go and bought in Coleman, a player that he seemingly has no confidence in.
Whatever happens with Torquay going well near the top of the table and us snapping at their heels in ninth place this looks like being a tasty encounter. Add in our recent great form at home and we could be looking at a bit of good game.
*Stop the press! We signed Chris MacKenzie on a month long loan after this preview was first published.
Teams:
Harriers from:
MacKenzie, Coleman, Harkness, Kenna, Bignot, Creighton, Whitehead, Munday, McGrath, Ferrell, Bennett, Hurren, Russell, Penn, Richards, Blackwood, Barnes-Homer, Smikle, Constable.
Torquay from:
Rayner, Rice, Hinshelwood, Nicholson, Woods, Robertson, Todd, Mansell, Sills, Benyon, Phillips, Hill, Wring, Hargreaves, Bedeau, Hockley, Mullings, Stevens, Welsh, Zebroski.