DAVE Penney is refusing to be downhearted by the loss of Micky Cummins with the Darlington manager insisting his squad have the strength in depth to cover for the injured midfielder.

Cummins has played more games for the club than anyone else this season, but will sit out the upcoming back-to-back home matches with Hereford United tomorrow and Hartlepool United a week on Sunday.

The hamstring injury sustained at Rochdale last Saturday means a recall for either David Rowson or Ricky Ravenhill, although it is unlikely to be the latter as he played for the reserves on Wednesday while Rowson was on the bench.

With four league goals, Cummins is the club's third top-scorer this season and Penney said: "He's the most attack-minded we've got from midfield but I think he will be disappointed with the number of goals he's got because he got 11 or 12 last year in the league above.

"The midfield is similar to the forwards in that we can perm several combinations from what we have in the squad.

"We've got Clark, Ricky and David and Micky's injury will allow one of them to get forward a bit more."

Brian Close is the latest player to require treatment after suffering a head wound which required stitches while playing for the reserves against Sunderland.

If he has not completely recovered he will not be involved tomorrow, and neither will Darren Holloway who, like Cummins, has a hamstring injury.

Penney added: "Micky got a whack in the back and it has affected his hamstring. It's only a slight tear, unlike Darren who will be out for another two weeks.

"Carlos Logan has been to see a specialist because he has been having problems with his groin. He had an injection last week to see if that would sort it out but it didn't so it looks like surgery which is three to four weeks."