Forest Green Rovers boss Robbie Savage has revealed the club have decided to play on despite four international call-ups potentially leaving him without key players for a run of crucial fixtures.
Savage described the situation as “unprecedented” at National League level, with four Rovers players called up for international duty.
The quartet will miss Rovers’ home clash with Boston United a week on Saturday, as well as the subsequent fixtures against Wealdstone, Scunthorpe United and Sutton United, leaving Savage facing a significant selection headache.
The Forest Green boss said the club had the option to request postponements because of the number of international call-ups, but after discussions with the club’s hierarchy, it was decided the squad would be trusted to get through the challenging period.
“It’s unprecedented at this level,” Savage said.
“We’ve had four international call-ups, which is unbelievable for the football club. It gives us a little bit of a headache though because there’s a ruling that if you have three international call-ups, you can postpone games.
“Because it’s such a long international break of two weeks, some of our players will miss three or four games.”
Savage did not reveal the identities of the four players, but confirmed all four were involved in Saturday’s victory at Hornchurch — two starters and two substitutes who made an impact. Among those involved were Kairo Mitchell, who has 15 caps for Grenada, D’Mani Mellor, Gabe Kircough and Oli Ewing. From the starting XI, Liverpool loanee Kyle Kelly has represented St Kitts & Nevis, while Swindon Town loanee Filozofe Mabete is a DR Congo U23 international.
“Four of the call-ups are four players who were all involved at Hornchurch – two starters and two subs who made an impact,” he said. “So it’s been quite stressful because as a club we have to decide, do we call the games off? I’ve encouraged all the lads to go and play. What an honour. Brilliant. But it does leave us short.”
Forest Green face a demanding sequence of fixtures, with Savage acknowledging that the international absences could have a significant impact on the squad.
“You look at the run of Boston, Wealdstone, Scunthorpe and Sutton,” he said.
“The players could miss the majority of those games, which is a huge blow to us. But of course, it’s brilliant recognition for the football club.
“Who’d have thought that a National League club would have the opportunity to call games off because of international call-ups?”
However, Savage confirmed Forest Green have decided against postponing the fixtures.
The decision followed discussions between Savage, Dale Vince, Rehmanwala and Mark Bowen, with the club instead looking at ways to bolster the squad during the international window.
“We’ve had discussions and we believe we’ve got a squad who can get through those games,” Savage said.
“It leaves us a little bit short, which is why we would be bringing in probably a loan for a month or three, just to help us through that period.
Savage admitted postponing the matches would also create problems further down the line, particularly with another international window approaching in November.
“We’ve decided as a club that we’ll play the games,” he said.
“I don’t think we could win either way because if you play the games, you’re missing some of your key players.
“But if you cancel the games, you’ll be playing catch-up. You’ll be three or four games behind.
“There’s another international window in November where there could also be the same occurrence. Then we could be six or seven games behind.
“Then you’re playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.”
Savage also stressed that the club had considered the impact postponements would have on Forest Green supporters.
He said fans could face long journeys and a congested run of fixtures later in the season if matches were moved.
“You have to take our fans into consideration also,” he said.
“If we’d have called the games off, they’d be travelling Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday for a long period of time, having to finish work early, long distances at night and their trains back.
“So again, we’ve come to the decision that being able to get a couple of players in – one on loan, which hopefully will be announced Monday, and a youngster – it’ll just help us in that time where it is tough.
“Some clubs might have called the games off, but I just think on the whole picture, we’ve got to believe in our squad for our fans.”
Despite the selection headache, Savage believes the four international call-ups represent a significant boost for the club and vindication of Forest Green’s recruitment strategy.
“It gives a lift to the other players as well,” he said. “Four international call-ups at Forest Green for qualification games. It’s incredible.
“It goes to show that our recruitment process and strategy is right.
“But again, when you get the call, it is stressful. It is stressful because you’re thinking, right, I’m going to have to be without four players or do we call the games off?
“But four international call-ups at Forest Green – it’s huge.”
Savage believes the situation could be a first for the National League, although he acknowledged he could be proved wrong.
“I think, and I’d be happy to be proven wrong, this is the first time possibly in National League history that a team has had four international call-ups,” he said.
“Which is huge news for us as a club.”
