EBBW Vale’s injury list doesn’t make for pleasant reading at the moment but skipper Damien Hudd is not using that as an excuse for his side’s inconsistency on the pitch this season.

The Steelmen sit sixth in the Principality Premiership going into tonight’s game against Bargoed at Eugene Cross Park (kick-off 7.30pm), 11 points behind leaders Aberavon.

A 34-17 defeat to the table-topping Wizards last Friday was a blow to Ebbw’s hopes of landing a third consecutive victory and strengthening their position ahead of January’s league split.

Hudd’s troops haven’t been helped in their bid to string together a telling series of results because of a catalogue of injuries.

The squad has been bolstered with a couple of new additions but Ethan Doyle, Tom Watkins, Tom Edwards and Lloyd Bridges have left the Gwent club.

However, Hudd says the injury situation and changes in personnel are just part and parcel of the game.

“We’ve got a few players injured in key positions but that’s all part of Premiership rugby,” he said.

“If lads pick up injuries you’ve got to hope the squad is good enough and big enough to deal with it.

“You do get used to playing with certain players but there are no excuses because every squad makes changes with new lads coming in for boys that are injured.

“We’ve been very inconsistent this season but hopefully the pattern will change.

“I think we need to win two or three out of the next five to be in the top eight when the league splits in January.

“After that we should have quite a few of the boys available again after injury.”

In Bargoed, Ebbw face a side Hudd reckons will present a “huge challenge”, despite having only won once this term.

On the injury front, centres Adam Jones (groin) and Dom Franchi (knee) are hoping to return in December and January respectively, but hooker Mathew Williams (shoulder) is likely to be back for the start of next season.

Number-eight Rory Pitman (thumb) could feature tonight, fly-half Josh Lewis (knee) is being assessed, and second row Joe Bartlett (hamstring) is out for around four weeks.

With regards to the club’s Newport Gwent Dragons players, Ashley Sweet (chest) is set to return in January and Will Talbot-Davies’s thumb is also being assessed.

Meanwhile, forwards Jonny Bowen and Rhodri Dicks and scrum-half David Jones are back at Eugene Cross Park, with prop Josh James and centres Liam Jones and Croatian international Srdan Majkic also joining.