Otley have suffered a blow with the news that flanker Alex Ball has fractured a cheekbone.

The 23-year-old was injured in the 25th minute of the Cross Greeners’ SSE National League Two North match at home to Hull last Saturday.

Otley’s interim director of rugby Ryan Duckett said: “We expect Alex, who was concussed after the incident when he connected with the ball-carrier’s knee, to be out for six weeks.

“They had to wait for the swelling to go down before they could examine him but the good thing is that he doesn’t need an operation.

“When I broke my cheekbone, I did need an operation and was out for 12 weeks.”

Otley’s first team, who have played 19 league matches, are without a game on Saturday but there are five other matches in their division, with seven of the clubs in action having only played 18.

“We could have done with a game to get last weekend’s frustation out of our system,” said Duckett.