Devastated Workington Town skipper Ollie Wilkes admitted he is gutted to be missing his side’s last-ditch promotion decider at Swinton on Sunday.

The experienced prop forward had to leave the field at Bradford last weekend after just 20 minutes when he picked up a calf injury.

And that means Wilkes will have to try and inspire his charges from the touchline when they tackle bottom of the Championship Swinton.

“I’ll definitely be there,” said Wilkes.

“I will be in the ear of the people taking to the field and I will try and inspire them to get the win.

“I would love to be playing, I have only missed one game this year and that was when I was rested.

“We were just 20 minutes in and I felt my calf go pop so that’s me for three or four weeks so, really, that’s me until next year.

“To miss this game I’m just so disappointed, but I will be there to cheer the boys on and hopefully give them a boost.”

And he admitted that as he limped off his heart sank to see fellow stalwart Sean Penkywicz also on the treatment table.

He said: “I actually thought Penky had just been subbed and, when I realised he was injured as well, I thought at the time ‘that’s it’.

“But we tried to motivate them at half-time, saying we were 40 minutes away from victory.

“We scored first and got within a reasonable score but then the margin got too big. It was a tough performance but now we have to go onwards and upwards.”

It will be tough for Town this weekend with injuries and players’ holidays striking at the heart of the team.

But Wilkes said his side can do it the hard way and that it would be the same for Swinton.

“They will be in the same boat, I know Andy Bracek is on his honeymoon so they will have lost one of their key props,” he added.

“To throw in this game in with four weeks of the season remaining was preposterous.

“It would have been better just to say three would go up and one relegated or two up and the bottom Championship side stayed up.

“Instead to be playing the season longer than the Super League Grand Final is just crazy but we have got to get on with it."