TOP scorer Mark Gamble and the recently-returned Ollie Phillipson-Masters picked up injuries as Wimborne Town endured a day to forget at strugglers Clevedon.

Magpies’ recent run of form came to a shuddering halt at the Hand Stadium after a tepid display which allowed home striker Isaac Reid to run riot for the fourth-bottom Seasiders.

But of greater concern to manager Steve Cuss will be the absence of his in-form duo.

Prolific hitman Gamble cancelled out Reid’s third-minute opener with his 27th league goal of the season during the first half but was withdrawn with 13 minutes to play with a groin strain.

That compounded the early exit of Phillipson-Masters who had played through the pain barrier for 66 minutes.

Cuss was unable to put definitive timescales on the injuries but confirmed both players would miss Tuesday’s trip to Didcot Town and admitted he could move to bolster his “threadbare” squad in the coming days.

The Wimborne boss told the Daily Echo: “Mark damaged his groin and you could see he was uncomfortable straight away. We will have him assessed but it is a concern and he won’t be playing on Tuesday.

"Ollie had been out for about six months and the fact he has played quite a few games since he came back has probably caught up with him a bit. He wasn’t fully fit but we were low on numbers so he stepped in. He will probably miss a couple of games.”

On the prospect of adding to his squad, Cuss said: “We will have to see what we can do as well as look at the resources we have in our reserve and youth set up.

“We are missing a striker and could do with another defender. We are down to around 11 fit senior players so the squad is threadbare but we will look from within at first to fill the spots.”

After Reid and Gamble had exchanged cool finishes during the opening 20 minutes, Clevedon took control when Dominic Stewart finished off a through- ball from Luke Hall-Cousins two minutes before the interval.

Reid slotted home his second to wrap up the points but missed out on a hat-trick when he fired over an 80th-minute penalty after being brought down by Wimborne skipper Scott Arnold.

On his side’s display in Somerset, Cuss added: “It was disappointing. Our performance was nowhere near the levels we had achieved in our past five or six games.

"We have no divine right to win games at this level. All the teams are good and if you don’t play well you will get beaten. The result was fully justified.”

Magpies: Harvell, Arnold, Maybury, Phillipson-Masters (Grose, 66), Costello, Blake, Griffin, Kemble, Stokoe, Gamble (Roast, 77), Webb. Unused sub: Battison.