Lowestoft Town joint boss Ady Gallagher admits the club are not in a position to add to the squad despite their current injury crisis.

The Trawlerboys are likely to have just nine senior players available for today's visit of Dulwich Hamlet after Andrew Fisk (ankle) and Curtis Haynes-Brown (knee) joined an ever-growing casualty list.

However, Gallagher admitted there is not enough money in the budget to give the Blues more strength in depth.

'The reality is that we are running with a reduced number of players,' said Gallagher. 'We have suffered a fair number of injuries but the club obviously still has to pay these players – the money is not there to spend on the squad at the moment.'

Despite their current problems Gallagher is certain the Blues can still be in the end of season promotion mix if they can get through the festive period without falling too far adrift in the league.

Adam Smith and Dan Gleeson (both hamstring) should come back into contention before the end of the year but Gallagher admits the club is not willing to play financial roulette to bolster the squad.

'It's very important that we safeguard the future of the club and don't put it in any danger,' he added. 'Players have come to the club to be successful and that hasn't changed. It is still a recoverable situation for us – we just have to get through this injury crisis and we will try to kick on from there.'

Gallagher conceded the situation is far from ideal and is struggling to remember a time when the club's playing squad was so stretched during his time at the Meadow.

However, he hopes the club's youngsters can take their chance despite the fact they are being thrown in ahead of schedule.

'We've got some really talented young players and it's up to them to seize their moment really,' he said. 'It is probably a bit earlier than we would have liked but it's a chance for them to come in and show us what they can do.'

Lowestoft face one of the season's surprise packages at the Meadow this afternoon and know only too well about the dangers they pose, as newly-promoted Dulwich pulled off a surprise 2-0 win at home to the Blues on the opening day of the season.

'Our backs are to the wall but hopefully it can have a galvanising effect on us and we can get through this,' Gallagher added..

- A pitch inspection is planned at Crown Meadow for 8am today, with wind and rain forecast overnight, after the Blues had to postpone in midweek against Wealdstone.