Rather than the champions they are, Dandy Town have taken on the appearance of the walking wounded.

Indeed the Hornets are hurting ... in a major way.

The injury bug has stung hard, ravaging the Premier Division's most potent frontline and much of the midfield, forcing coach Andrew Bascome to dig deep into his second string and consider alterations in team tactics.

Carlos Smith, Darron (Duke) Simons, Janeiro Tucker and Devarr Boyles have all been forced onto the sidelines, but while Simons (high ankle sprain) and Boyles (groin) look to return in the coming weeks, both Smith and Tucker appear long term casualties.

Smith recently underwent surgery to repair damage to his right knee, while Tucker reportedly has a ruptured Achilles tendon which will keep him out for the rest of the season and may be career threatening.

The quartet's absence on Sunday served to expose several shortcomings, with Wolves taking advantage of a lack of cohesiveness, particularly in midfield, to steal a rare win at St. John's Field.

Yet Bascome was unwilling to offer up the injury dilemma as an excuse for his side dropping their first league match.

"It's hard for us to get in a rhythm, but we have enough personnel out here to do the job that's necessary," said Bascome, whose blistering oratory during Tuesday night's team meeting was one Martin Luther King might have been proud of.

"Yeah, the injury situation has definitely taken its toll on us, but I think we have enough spirit at the club to do what's necessary to at least get a decent result.

"Like Sunday, we could have come away with a draw, even if people felt we might not have deserved it, but we did enough. It was unfortunate (Kevin) Hurdle got sent off, but we can't make any excuses, because everybody has their obstacles.

"The guys just have to realise that football is a game that takes a lifetime to master, because these guys think that training three hours out of 168 is enough.

"The way they put it as players is that we train two days, but let's be real, it's only three hours, an hour-and-a-half each day. Yet they come with such big heads and are hard to reach sometimes."

The coach hinted at the possibility of reverting to a 4-4-2 formation as opposed to the current 4-3-3 in an attempt to better shore up the midfield and defence, even if it means sacrificing attacking options.

Nevertheless, Bascome said that the burden of success rested not on any formation, tactic or technique, but rather with the desire of the players to properly prepare themselves and do the extra work required and not rest on the laurels of last season.

"My philosophy is that last year is behind us, you have to go and win it again . . . it's up for grabs, and doesn't belong to us or anybody right now," said Bascome, hoping Sunday's defeat might serve as a wake-up call.

"True, we have that label on us, but we have to go win it again, because how can you defend it but to go and win it . . . go and take it . . . nobody's going to give you anything. You have to look to win every game and carry that same competitive spirit.

"They have to come to the realisation that everybody wants to beat them. Just like we had a point to prove when we felt like we were better than the results we were getting, so we worked harder.

"Local players leave too much on the coach, but they have to come with their own motivation, your inner desire to want to play, and then we can carry you from there. "The joy of sport is that it gives the opportunity for the weak to beat the strong, and they have to understand that about sports. If you're the top gun, the guy (opponent) thinks that he's going to give a little more, so you have to give a little more.

"That's what I love about sports. I was once coaching teams like St. David's, and when we got a chance to play Dandy Town or one of those big teams, I didn't have to motivate them too much, it was already there. So we have to look at the sport in that light and come with that same mental approach, that same preparedness to work, and then the better player and better play will come out."

Bascome received some relief this week when tonight's scheduled match against Somerset was postponed to a later date due to floodlight problems, giving his not-so-severely injured players a few extra days to heal.