POOLE Town’s unbeaten status is severely under threat as manager Tom Killick desperately searches for a goalkeeper ahead of his team’s top-of-the-table clash at VT FC.

With number one Jason Harvell and back-up Adam Tong unavailable through injury and illness respectively, Killick has been hit with a crisis at the worst possible time.

As of yesterday afternoon, the Dolphins boss was still uncertain as to the identity of Harvell’s replacement.

Dolphins will put their impeccable Wessex Premier Division record of 13 wins and one draw on the line tomorrow (3pm) when they meet the league’s only other undefeated team.

And their preparations have suffered a massive setback with the news that Harvell, outstanding so far this season, will miss the mouth-watering clash because of an ankle problem.

Killick, whose potential emergency stopper signings include Simon Arthur, Grant Porter and Wayne Shaw, admits the timing couldn’t have been much worse.

“I’m getting a bit worried,” he told the Daily Echo.

“Simon Arthur is trying to rearrange some coaching and there’s Grant Porter. At the moment I think they’re the two options.

“Jason has been exceptional so far and he’s been an integral part of our success.

“It’s a big blow but one positive is I think we’ve been fortunate so far with injuries so I suppose you have to accept that you’re often going to be without players.”

Killick is predicting an entertaining contest between the teams, with VT’s renowned technical ability coming up against Poole’s combination of quality and physical prowess.

He believes the fact that Poole can call upon experienced players such as Taffy Richardson and Simon Browne could swing things in his team’s favour.

“I’m a great believer that the mentality of your team is such a massive factor in the outcome of these games,” said Killick.

“It helps if you’ve got people who won’t freeze in the pressurised situation.

“That gives us confidence that a lot of players won’t be fazed.

“I’m hoping we’ve got players that will relish this game more than playing a fixture against lesser sides.

“I want players who would rather play in these games than in comfortable victories against the lower teams.”

Killick has identified VT’s experienced forward Paul Sales as the main threat among a number of talented players in the opposition’s ranks.

He said: “Everyone knows he’s widely accepted as probably being the best forward in the league.

“I’ve managed him and known him for a long time and know all about the qualities he’s got.

“But attacking-wise, they’ve got a lot of very good players.”

As well as Harvell, Killick will also be without Stuart Brown, who is unavailable.

Poole Town: (from) Arthur or Porter, White, Browne, Whitley, Dibba, Walker, Gill, Sturgess, Hubbard, Richardson, Skelton, Austin, S Smith, Bailey-Pearce, Phillips, Swann, Bailey.