PORTLAND United boss Gary Bailey claims he will not gamble on the fitness of Ross Carmichael before the start of the season.

The island defender picked up an ankle injury during their 4-1 friendly defeat to Steve Claridge’s Salisbury on Saturday.

And Bailey, who was highly impressed with his side’s performance for around 60 minutes at the weekend despite their defeat, stressed that Carmichael is unlikely to feature until the Blues kick off their Sydenhams Wessex One campaign against Fleet Spurs on Saturday, August 8.

“Ross won’t be fit and we won’t be risking him until the start of the season,” he told Echosport.

“He rolled his ankle and it has really swelled up so we are going to wrap him in cotton wool until our first game now.

“Even if he says he is fit, we are not having any of it. He is going to be taken out of the firing line.”

After the Whites had opened the scoring prior to the interval, the Blues got back on level terms when an in-swinging corner from Carl Morris found the net.

Goalkeeper Sean Lillington then saved a penalty on his debut to keep the hosts on level terms, but the Blues then conceded another spot kick five minutes later, which the away side converted to make it 2-1 — Carmichael had to hobble off with a twisted ankle.

Salisbury then showed their pedigree by adding two more goals to their tally, but Bailey took heart from his charges’ efforts.

“We lost 4-1 but for an hour we played really well,” he added.

“We more than held our own in the first half and probably should have been two, maybe three up. We had some good chances and their keeper made a couple of great saves.

“I am not worried about the scoreline at all because, for an hour, we were excellent. I am more than happy with the performance and I felt 4-1 was a bit hard on us.

“They are decent and they brought a good number of players down.

“They were throwing fresh legs on and the game just got away from us in the middle part of the second half.”

Alex Halloran, Carl Mclements and Tom Peck may all return for the Blues when they travel to Sherborne Town on Wednesday (7.30pm).

Bailey may also attempt to give minutes to Dan Austin, and Richard Marshallsay is likely to come into the squad. Lewis Whyton remains unavailable.

Attendance: 138

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