Marks' season may not be over

It was feared that the Iron striker wouldn’t be seeing any further Vanarama Conference Premier action this year after being carried from the pitch on a stretcher in the 3-1 defeat at Kidderminster last weekend.

He suffered a nasty ankle injury and first indications were that he had broken it, but Devonshire said the prognosis was now better.

While Marks won’t be available for either of Braintree’s Easter weekend games – tomorrow’s home encounter with Lincoln City and Monday’s trip to Nuneaton Town – his campaign may not necessarily be over.

Devonshire said: “It’s not as bad as we first feared, but his ankle got shaken up badly it will be touch and go for the rest of the season.

“The ankle isn’t broken, though, which is what we feared at first.

“There is a slight crack in there, but he should heal quite quickly from it.

“He will definitely be ready for pre-season and maybe even the last game or couple of games at the end of this season.

“It’s tough for Sean, though, as he’s had a back problem through most of the season.

“That seemed to have cleared up and we’d been seeing some better performances from him, so it’s tough that he’s now had this happen.”

Today’s game against Lincoln (kick-off 3pm) will definitely come too soon for Marks, but his team-mates will be looking to set some records straight.

They will aim for better performances than they had in their last home game – the 2-0 defeat by AFC Telford – and in the first-half at Kidderminster last weekend, when they conceded three goals, and will also be hoping to end a sorry run of form against Lincoln.

Despite a win and a draw against the Imps in their first year in the Conference top flight, Braintree have suffered six back-to-back defeats by Lincoln since then.

Devonshire added: “They have had the edge over us in the last couple of years and we feel we owe them a little bit.

“We’ll roll our sleeves up and look to get the ball down and play it quickly and sharply against them to move them around."