Bracknell Town keeper Mark Scott hopes to be back playing in a month or so after pulling his quad muscle in the recent Emirates FA Cup tie at Burgess Hill Town.
“It happened when I was taking a free-kick,” he said. “I struggled to put weight on it straight away, but I am now making progress through rehab from Sean (first-team physio Seanagh McCarthy) and others. Hopefully, I will be back in five to six weeks.”
However, when that happens, Scott will find himself with competition for the Robins’ No. 1 jersey following the signing of Michael Eacott, who was also skipper of their Pitching In Isthmian South Central rivals Sutton Common Rovers.
The transfer raised a few eyebrows as manager Bobby Wilkinson had already signed Myles Bowman on loan from Hampton & Richmond Borough and praised the youngster’s performance when he made his debut in the 2-1 win over Bedfont Sports.
But a day later he announced the signing of 26-year-old Eacott, who had been poised to make his 99th appearance in Sutton Common’s biggest game in their history, the FA Cup second qualifying round tie against Jersey Bulls this Saturday, a match chosen for live coverage by the BBC via the red button, iPlayer and app.
“However, the lure of Bracknell proved too much and he has decided to move on. We thank him for his service,” said a club spokesman with an air of disappointment.
Eacott made his debut in the Robins’ 4-0 midweek thumping of Berkshire rivals Thatcham Town at Waterside Park to keep them top of the South Central Division with an unbeaten record after five games.
How Scott reacted to seeing the arrival of a new keeper is unknown, but when Football in Berkshire spoke to him at the game against Bedfont, he remained very upbeat about the rest of the season for himself and for the Robins.
He said: ” When I first came to Bracknell (in July 2018) I was told the ultimate goal was promotion, but we lost in the play-offs.
“We then had issues with Covid but we are now back playing regularly and so it’s back on.
“We will always back ourselves against any team at our level. For us, it is a matter of working hard each week and play to our best ability. If we do that, it should get us up there. I don’t want to pack it in or leave Bracknell until we have achieved promotion.”
Like other players, officials and fans, Scott is impressed with Bracknell’s new home venue at Bottom Meadow in Sandhurst.
“It’s a really lovely ground to come and play. There is still a lot of work going on, but the bar is lovely, it’s authentic,” he commented.
“It is also good to be playing on grass. 3G is nice to play on as you don’t get many games called off during a season, but for me, nothing beats grass. It also means when I get home I don’t have thousands of those little black bits of rubber fall out of my kit before I put it into the wash and it keeps the house tidy as well.”
The 30-year-old accountant who is working – “nine to five” – towards becoming fully chartered revealed that he still has reminders of the serious injury he suffered when playing for Slough Town against Basingstoke in 2017. He shattered the C6 vertebrae at the base of his neck in an accidental collision with an opponent at Arbour Park.
He said: “At times I still get a few nerve issues with it but have always been able to play through it. At first, it affected my confidence a bit but I spoke to different specialists and they said I can’t make it (neck) any worse, so it is just a case of me managing it really and keeping on top of it. It does not affect my game.”
This season started well for Scott, who was Man of the Match when Bracknell drew 1-1 at Hanwell last month after making two sensational saves in the opening 10 minutes.
Talking about his keeper’s latest injury, Wilkinson said: “I am gutted for him, Scotty has been first class this season.”
