Dale's chances of advancing into the second round of the FA Cup were dealt another blow with the news that keeper Jamie Spencer will be out for two weeks following a hip injury in training.

The good news is that we have a ready made replacement in the form of Sam Russell who has been sat in the wings since joining the club on non contract forms earlier in the season. The former Darlington man has just played once for Dale so far, that coming in the JPT against Bury.

So by our reckoning, our injured list combined with loan players who aren't eligible to play looks like this:

Goalkeeper:
James Spencer

Defence:
Nathan Stanton
Simon Ramsden
Nathan D'Laryea
Gary Brown
Kelvin Lomax
Robert Atkinson

Midfield:
John Doolan

Forward:
Chris Dagnall
Scott Taylor

In contrast, we can pick from the following:

Sam Russell
Rory McArdle
Tom Kennedy
Lee Crooks
Ben Muirhead
Gary Jones
David Perkins
Adam Rundle
Kallum Higginbotham
Rory Prendergast
Glenn Murray
Adam Le Fondre

So at least, we have twelve players to pick from, even if getting a recognised formation might be slightly more difficult than we'd normally expect it to be. Expect the sixteen to include youth players.
 

Photo: Action Images

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