Peterhead midfielder Jordon Brown and his team-mates could be forgiven for feeling whatever can go wrong has gone wrong for their club so far this season.
Four games into the new campaign, the injuries are mounting up for the Blue Toon as they get their League One season under way against Airdrie at Balmoor Stadium on Saturday.
Brown said: “The only luck we’re getting is of the bad variety.
“It has been a crazy start to the season for us with so many guys going down injured and it’s all been unforeseen, too.
“From the minute Andy McCarthy got injured against Dundee in our first pre-season game, it feels as if we’ve had bad luck at every turn. It has been unbelievable.
“We gave a good account of ourselves against Aberdeen, but other than that there has been little for us to take from the League Cup other than one injury setback after another.
Brown’s brother Jason joins growing injury list
Brown’s brother Jason is the latest addition to a steadily growing list of absentees, which includes McCarthy (ankle), Hamish Ritchie and Russell McLean, who are nursing knee injuries, and the suspended Andy McDonald.
Central defender Jason suffered a head injury in his side’s 3-0 defeat at Stirling Albion in the Premier Sports Cup last week and concussion protocols mean Jordon will not play alongside his brother until mid-August.
Brown said: “Jason is fine now, but it was a bit of shock at the time.
“It happened right in front of me and we were all really worried.
“He had a bit of a nightmare afterwards as he wasn’t discharged until after midnight, but the important part is that he has had his scan and everything is fine.
“Now we just have to follow the concussion protocols, but the fact he’s out for three weeks sums up the way our luck is going at the moment.”
Blue Toon ready for the challenge in League One
The Blue Toon kick off their league campaign against last season’s runners-up Airdrie, and Brown believes the new campaign is shaping up to be even more competitive following the arrival of Queen of the South and Dunfermline to the division.
He said: “You look at League One and it’s going to be really tough this season. There are four or five full-time teams in there and they will all be fancying themselves to win the league.
“Last season there were no easy games, but it looks even tougher now.
“We were in the car on the way back from training on Tuesday going through the fixture list and every week is going to be a real battle.”
With Ryan Strachan expected to gain more minutes – as he continues his recovery from double foot surgery – and two players returning from suspension, the options are improving for manager Jim McInally.
Brown believes it is important everyone at the club remains upbeat.
He said: “It is going to be a massive challenge, but we’re all looking forward to it.
“We just want to put the last couple of weeks behind us, have a fresh start and see what we can do in this division.
“We’ve got a couple of lads back from suspension in Paul Dixon and Ryan Dow, which will help, and I’m sure we will be fine once everything settles down.
“We have go look forward and remain positive. If we do that, we can compete well.”
