NORTH West Counties Division Two Player of the Month Paul Mashiter will miss Great Harwood Town's trip to Formby tomorrow.

The striker, who scored two hat-tricks during his award-winning month of December, misses the game against the second-placed side after struggling through recent games with a thigh strain.

Harwood manager John Hughes has decided to rest him in case it gets any worse, but he already has a numbers crisis on his hands for the visit to Merseyside.

A combination of injuries and other commitments mean James Dean, Darren Rogers, Ryan Parr, Adam Lee, Warren Baker, Neil Kennedy and Ryan Walsh are also out of the side.

Neil Zarac, Danny O'Reilly and new signing Liam Pryor are set to come in and Hughes is also hoping to bring in a new forward before tomorrow's game.

Hughes said; "We have a big squad so hopefully we can go there and get a result. We've lost our last two games but they lost 6-3 last week."

DARWEN are gearing up to play the top two sides over the next two weekends but manager Steve Wilkes is far from fearful.

"I'm looking forward to the next two games because we've been playing well, and all the top sides have been beating each other," said Wilkes ahead of tomorrow's game at home to NWCL Division Two leaders Maine Road.

But he may have a few selection problems after their 4-2 win at Blackpool Mechanics last weekend came at a price.

Lee Webb is struggling with an ankle injury while Wilkes himself has torn ligaments either side of his ankle after playing on what he described as a "cowfield".

Jimmy Khan is sidelined with a hamstring injury but Paul Brown and Andy Walsh are back in contention for a place in the starting line-up.

PADIHAM are also in NWCL Division Two action tomorrow, as they look to bounce back from last Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Winsford, taking on Blackpool Mechanics at the Arbories.

NELSON have only won one of their last eight league games, as have Norton United, where they travel to tomorrow.