MANAGER Tom Killick admits he may have to get creative in the hunt for a solution to the hamstring trouble blighting Poole Town winger Jon Davies.

Creative catalyst Davies, a summer signing from AFC Totton, is a doubt for tomorrow’s trip to Arlesey Town (3pm), the first of four away days in a row for the Tatnam outfit.

Versatile Davies, who can play anywhere across midfield, has missed seven of Poole’s 18 league matches this season and seems set to join another long-term absentee, striker Richard Gillespie, on the sidelines in Bedfordshire.

The injury to top scorer Gillespie – plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tissue on the sole of the foot – saw Dolphins enlist the help of Cherries physio Steve Hard and their Dorset counterparts’ anti-gravity treadmill.

And with Killick believing Davies’s long commutes to Tatnam had proved detrimental, the Poole boss confessed he might have to think outside the box once again.

Updating Davies’s progress, Killick told the Daily Echo: “He would probably have missed the Bashley game on Wednesday but it is not a long-term injury and, hopefully, he has an outside chance of featuring at Arlesey.

“But Jon’s situation has become a bit of a concern as he has had his share of hamstring troubles this season and I think we’re going to have to look at helping him in some way. He lives towards Bristol and spends a lot of time travelling to training and getting to matches. He’s sat all that time and then plays or trains and I don’t think it is a coincidence that he has picked up a lot of muscular injuries.

“Maybe we have to consider a different sort of stretching regime or ways of alleviating the amount he drives if we can and, if necessary, we might have to be willing to let him train somewhere closer to home because there has to be a link there somewhere.”

Promotion-chasing Poole have won their past five league matches and conceded just two goals in eight unbeaten Southern Premier encounters.

And while they face an Arlesey side who trumped them 3-2 at the Armadillo Stadium in the FA Trophy two months ago, Killick sees their recent resolve as the key to further success in 2014.

“There is a really good spirit in the camp,” he added. “At the start of the season, I wasn’t sure the players had that real belief that they could win promotion but I feel they do now.

“Results have helped but much of it comes from the realisation that we have a very strong group. The existing players have got to know the quality and mentality of the new players over a number of games and vice versa.”

Dolphins: (from) Buchel, Emmerson, Spetch, Martin, Whisken, Pettefer, Elliott, Devlin, Brooks, Preston, Charles, Cann, Byerley, Dibba, Lowes.