DERBY AC captain Phil Harries is set to hand out several debuts for his injury-ravaged British Athletics League team for tomorrow's Division Two meeting at Kingston on Thames.

A severely depleted Derby finished a creditable sixth in the first meeting at Abingdon and the squad will be similarly threadbare this weekend.

As a result, Harries is ready to call up youngsters Tom Offord, Callum Chambers (pictured), Jamie Gill and Marcus Francis for their BAL bows.

“We've got one or two coming back but I think, overall, we've got the same problems as last time,” said Harries.

“We've got quite a few injuries and a lot depends on Luke Gunn.

“If he decides not to race, which would be perfectly understandable in his position, we'll have to get a couple of middle distance guys in.”

He added: “The ones who are definitely still out are Sam Worrall, Jonny Gilby and Richard Weir. Richard is recovering well from his operation but he's not in any shape to run.

“Simon Roper is probably out for the season but we knew that anyway. Fran Baker might not be 100 per cent, so there are a lot of key competitors out.”

One area where Derby will be significantly stronger is the pole vault.

Chesterfield pair Ed Mourbey and Dan Passey will both come into the side for the Kingston meeting and will expect to be big points scorers for the club after missing last month's match.

Ian Bullock will pick up the hammer for the team, while Aaron Brown steps up for the 400m.

Harries will also rely, once again, on the up and coming runners from coach Pete Ivens' training group who served him so well last time.

“Pete Ivens works them very hard but it's obviously paying off,” said Harries, who singled out Tom Lawrence for praise last time.

“You know someone's doing a good job when you see the same faces down at the track week in, week out. They're always the ones who go on to become a success.

“It's no good going for three weeks, then coming back for three weeks.

“You need to be there every week and that's what's so encouraging about Pete's lads. It shows how dedicated and committed they are to taking things to the next level.”

While Harries is hoping for an improvement on last week, especially in the pole vault, he concedes a lot depends on the strength of the other teams.

“You never know about the others,” he said.

“If they all put the same sides out, you could probably work out how many points you're going to get before you turn up. But it never works like that.

“You never can be sure how strong another team will be. They might have injuries coming back, people might be missing – the same things affect us all.”

Harries is also searching for sponsors to help fund the BAL team.

Tomorrow's trip to London is followed by a long trek to Wales for the third meeting in Swansea.

“It's a bit bleeding heart but it would really help to get more help when it comes to sponsorship,” added Harries.

For more information about sponsoring the BAL team, call the club on Derby 290679.