LOCAL SOCCER: Dale confident they can find cover

Keeper Mark Andrews suffered a serious leg wound during Friday's 3-0 league win at Witton Albion and he could be out for anything up to two months.

It leaves manager Jim McCluskie with the problem of finding cover, but he was confident that he would have some in place for tonight.

"I have made a number of calls and, while I can't say who it will be, we should be fine for cover.

"It is going to take Mark a while to come back, but otherwise we have a full bill of health."

For Andrews it is his first serious injury as a player and he is still not sure just how soon he will be back.

"I had to have 28 stitches in my ankle and the bottom of my leg and they are still not too sure whether there is ligament damage yet," he explained.

"It means I will be having three weeks off work and as far as playing it could be anything from a month to two months."

However, Andrews felt that he was the victim of an accident rather than a foul.

"It was a ball that came through and it was 50-50," he said.

"While the player did catch me with his studs it was definitely a legitimate challenge.

"The ball was there to be played for and that is just football. In some ways I feel lucky that it didn't result in a break."

But Andrews is not looking forward to be out of the frame as Rossendale fire up their promotion bid.

"We are near the top of the league and playing well, so this was not a good time for this to happen," he opined.

"They will bring a keeper in and I will have to get my place back when I'm fit.

"But I have to accept that I will have my foot up for a while and the thing that is really gutting is that I will miss the big one -- the FA Cup third qualifying game at Barrow."

But tonight, rather than Saturday's FA Cup clash, is the priority for McCluskie and he is prepared to give youth it's head against Radcliffe.

"I will take the chance to have a look at one or two of the younger players," he revealed.