Wealdstone boss Gordon Bartlett revealed he named two players as substitutes who were not even at the Stones’ 1-1 draw with Hemel Hempstead Town on Tuesday to fool the Tudors.

The Conference South clash had been re-arranged after the original tie was abandoned earlier this month, with Bartlett’s side trailing 3-0 at the break.

However, a crisis of availability meant Bartlett was only able to call on three substitutes for Tuesday’s draw, with goalkeeper Garry Malone – currently on a dual registration at Bedford – and Ryan Watts named despite not being present.

He explained: “We did not want to show that we only had three on the bench and show weakness, so we named two people who were not even there.

“Ryan Watts and Richard Jolly were injured, Wes Parker was ill and Michael Corcoran, Matt Ball and Sean Cronin were all unavailable,” he added.

The Stones fell behind after just three minutes when former Norwich City striker Dennis Oli netted for the hosts.

But Wealdstone ensured they would take a point back to Grosvenor Vale when Jonny Wright came off the bench to level, though his participation was in doubt right up until kick-off.

Bartlett elaborated: “Jonny works in town so it was touch and go if he was even going to get there for kick off but he got there about 20 minutes before and was disappointed to only be on the bench.

“He missed an absolute sitter on Saturday with five minutes to go, so on Tuesday I said to him, ‘score with your head’ and then he went and did exactly that.”

He added: “He is a great lad and he is understandably frustrated because I have not been picking him.”

The Stones picked up another three points in their survival fight on Saturday, beating Staines Town 2-1.

Goals from Corcoran and Luke O’Nien sealed the win for Bartlett’s side, who after Tuesday’s draw are now 12th in the Conference South – 15 points better off than the sides occupying the bottom two spots.

The loan deal of West Ham United winger Nathan Mavila has been extended by a further month until March 15.

Bartlett said: “They (West Ham) are keen for him to continue his education. He has got tremendous pace and he is a great lad who is only going to improve by playing games and we can give him that.”

The Stones host play-off hopefuls Gosport Borough at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday.