Bedford Town have announced that two key players have received international call-ups for the coming week, with both Greg Sandiford and T’Sharne Gallimore due to appear for Grenada and the British Virgin Islands.
However, with Ellis Brown facing a three-match ban and Tyrone Marsh banned for four of the six remaining games after straight red cards in the Eagles’ 3-0 defeat at Buxton, it leaves the squad lacking key men for their next game at AFC Telford on Saturday (28 March).
Read: Marsh sent off as nine-man Bedford Town lose comfortably at Buxton
Both Sandiford and Gallimore are expected to return in time for the Easter weekend double header against Leamington and King’s Lynn.
Sandiford, who has been cited as one of Lee Bircham’s most important players since the turn of the year, has been called up to the Grenada squad for the second instalment of the FIFA Series, playing in two fixtures on Friday, 27 March and Monday, 30 March.
Their first game is against the hosts of their four-team group, Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, before facing one of Estonia or Kenya in the second game.
Their group is one of nine around the world, with other friendly fixtures in places such as Sydney, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.
Gallimore, 25, who joined Bedford Town at the beginning of March, will swap The Eyrie for the sunshine of the Caribbean Sea, as he will represent the British Virgin Islands in two CONCACAF friendlies against the Cayman Islands and Anguilla across the same period.
“We need some bodies”
While international recognition is always welcome, especially for part-time footballers who are not used to appearing on the world stage, the two call-ups do leave a quandary for Lee Bircham and his coaching staff, who are now missing four additional big names for their next game at Telford.
Bedford Town have not indicated if they are lodging an appeal for either of Saturday’s red cards.
Eagles boss Lee Bircham jovially said, “if you’re a decent player not playing at the minute, give me a shout, because we need some bodies in there!” following the Buxton defeat, and his concerns are fair given a number of players are now unavailable.
Whether he’ll be dipping into a famously large non-league contact book for reinforcements remains to be seen, but with just six “cup finals” remaining, Bircham may be forced to find some results with a crop of players who have, by his own admission, “given everything this season”.
The registration window for new players in National League North closes at 5pm on Thursday, 26 March.
Any new player registrations after that point will be automatically declined or, “approved subject to such limitations and restrictions as the Board may determine”, according to National League rules.
Following the Telford game, Bedford Town host already relegated Leamington on Good Friday, before travelling to King’s Lynn on Easter Monday in what will be a massive bank holiday weekend in regards to Bedford Town’s future at step two.
Bedford Town’s other fixtures include another relegation six-pointer against Hereford – the last of Marsh’s four-game ban – before remaining games at title-chasing South Shields and a home match against Scarborough on 25 April.
