Wairarapa United are getting desperate.
The province's premier football club have high hopes for a successful 2012 campaign to at least rival that of last year, when their premier side captured the country's highest-profile knockout trophy, the Chatham Cup, and finished third in the central league.
But the paucity of specialist goalkeepers available to them is threatening to create a problem that could eventually scuttle the Wairarapa club's lofty aspirations.
Right now the only keeper United have on their playing staff is Phil Imray, who has joined them from central league champions Miramar Rangers.
Problem is, however, Imray is also part of the Team Wellington combination who have won through to the semifinals of the national league. That means he will miss at least the first two matches of United's central league campaign.