RYAN Aldridge is unsure whether he will have D-man Shane Moore at his disposal for this weekend’s EPL clashes with Peterborough and Manchester.

Wildcats’ have conceded 71 goals in 19 games so far this term - the joint-worst defensive record in the league - with a major factor in that statistic being the absence of the former Bracknell man due to an ankle problem.

Aldridge moved to strengthen the rearguard last week when he brought in Tomas Fojtik from Basingstoke, but Cats still only had five fit D-men last weekend.

The head coach explained: “Shane is getting so frustrated because the injury looks OK on the outside, but when he laces the boot up it puts pressure on the bone which is still bruised.

“He will train on Thursday night (yesterday evening) to see if he can go with it, but he doesn’t want to make it worse and prolong his time out.

“He said it was 75 per cent last weekend so he could have played, but we didn’t want to take it back to 65 per cent this weekend.

“To get the big man (Fojtik) in the line-up in these tough times is only going to make us stronger.

“Without an import forward it’s going to make us more one-lined, but we were giving up too many shots and too many goals.”

Finnish import Matias Perkkio and netminder Tom Murdy are still absent this weekend but in spite of the club’s injury problems and the devastating overtime loss to Peterborough on Sunday, Aldridge says his players have shown positive character this week.

“Tuesday was probably the best-morale practice we’ve had for a while, the boys were more competitive than they have been this year,” he said.

“The team is starting to come together a bit more and they are seeing it’s there and that we’re not in a bad place right now.

“The boys have stayed positive because they realised they didn’t deserve to lose (against Peterborough) and that there was only one team in it.

“I think it will be a solid match on Saturday, without saying too much.

“I think a few of our players were frustrated by some of their players last Sunday and there will be revenge both on the scoreboard and on the ice.

“Against Manchester we’ve got to go in there with the right gameplan and stick to it. When we veer away from our gameplan for five or 10 minutes, it costs us.”