Source: Northern_Echo
Bower stays skipper
MARK Bower will continue as captain when Darlington play at Torquay tomorrow as Ian Miller's injury is more severe than initially thought.[LNB] The defender suffered a hamstring strain during last week's defeat at Notts County which sidelined him for the visit of Bradford City.[LNB] That opened the door back into the first-team for Bower and he will keep his place at Plainmoor tomorrow.[LNB] Assistant manager Kevin Richardson said: Ian's hamstring is worse than we thought.[LNB] We didn't think it was too serious last week, but the hamstring is a very delicate muscle and obviously he has hurt it more than the physio Will Short thought.[LNB] He has just started doing light training with Will and hopefully there'll be no reaction to that and he might be available next week.[LNB] Quakers will also be without former skipper Steve Foster.[LNB] His contract row rumbles on but it because of injury that he won't travel to Devon this morning.[LNB] He suffered an injury in a reserve game at York City on Wednesday, a match arranged for players in need of match fitness.[LNB] Darlington-born midfielder Dan Groves has also suffered an ankle knock, and Richardson said: Steve injured his ankle against York and his foot is all black and blue.[LNB] He would have been in the squad, but Steve went in for a strong tackle with their fullback and the full-back hurt himself as well as Steven.[LNB] Quakers are reluctant to select Foster in their starting line-up unless he removes a clause from his contract that would entitle him to another deal, though that does not apply to substitute outings.[LNB] Richardson added: The contact situation has been highlighted quite a bit and at the moment it's still in the same position.[LNB] Paul Arnison, Gary Smith and Mark Convery were among those who also featured in Wednesday's game at KitKat Crescent, a 3-2 defeat.[LNB] Winger Nathan Mulligan, who has recovered from an ankle injury, played part of the match with Noel Whelan.[LNB] No date has been set for his comeback but he continues to make steady progress.[LNB] Richardson said: Noel played half a game and he's had a few days of training but it's steady as we go with him.[LNB] He's keen, he wants to do more than what he should, that's just the way Noel is.[LNB] It's a case of getting him fit and making sure he doesn't aggravate anything else and he's just glad to be back among things in training.[LNB] Midfielder Chris Lumsdon is still in light training as he continues his recovery from a back injury that has kept him on the sidelines since August[LNB]
