GREAT Harwood Town boss John Hughes is thinking of leaving top scorer Paul Mashiter out of tomorrow's NWCL Division Two home game with Maine Road.

The man who has taken on Harwood's main goalscoring mantle since Matt Derbyshire left for Blackburn Rovers has been struggling with a thigh strain in recent games and Hughes is keen to rest him.

This plan has been helped by the fact that Neil Zarac, who went off with a knee injury in last week's 2-1 defeat at Chadderton, has recovered to be fit for the visit of Maine Road, and Sam Hope is also in contention for a recall.

While disappointed with the defeat to lowly Chadderton, Hughes is still optimistic about his side's league position.

He said: "We lost but it's not too bad because results went our way as Nelson lost and Formby and Colne both drew."

John Eastham and Adam Lee could both be a month away from returning to first team action as both have undergone knee operations.