Petersfield Town manager Connor Hoare has admitted his side’s busy schedule is taking its toll on his squad after picking up a number of injuries.

The Rams drew 2-2 at Bournemouth Poppies in the Wessex League Premier Division on Thursday evening, before losing 2-1 at home to Portland United on Saturday and drawing 3-3 at home to Fareham Town on Monday evening.

Oli Davies went off injured at Bournemouth, Kieran Alcock was ruled out of the Portland and Fareham games, and Tommy Tierney picked up an injury in the warm-up before the Portland game.

“We’ve got so many injuries at the moment,” said Hoare. “It’s no coincidence this is happening when we’re being asked to play on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. There is no recovery time. I feel sorry for the players. It is okay for coaches and managers to come up with different gameplans for different matches, but for the players it is an incredible workload which is putting them under stress. I guess one positive is that the injuries are presenting more opportunities for young players – and Callum Glen and I have shown all season that we are prepared to give young players an opportunity.”

The Rams came from 2-0 down to rescue a point at Bournemouth thanks to Austin Giles’ finish into the far corner and Tierney’s penalty. Callum Kimber fired Petersfield into the lead against Portland, but the visitors turned the game on its head to claim the three points. The Rams produced a dramatic comeback against Fareham, rescuing a point thanks to Charlie Merritt’s 90th-minute goal. Charlie Cooper gave the visitors an early lead, but Chad Cornwell equalised on 24 minutes. Goals from Dave Vincent and Jamie Truckel put Fareham 3-1 up, but Liam Kimber pulled a goal back before Merritt’s late strike made it 3-3.