Goalkeeper Luke Daniels is confident of overcoming a double injury scare ahead of Shrewsbury’s Town home clash with Bournemouth this weekend.

The 20-year-old suffered a facial injury which required 15 stitches and sustained a dead leg in the incident which saw Marc Richards give Port Vale a dramatic and controversial winner at the Prostar Stadium on Saturday.

Daniels has missed training in the early part of the week because of the leg problem, but is sure he will be ready for a game which signals the return of former Town boss Jimmy Quinn this weekend.

“I was a bit tender after the stitches on Saturday night and I was having the treatment for about an hour and a half – but the surgeon has done a really good job and it feels okay now,” said Daniels, who insisted the goal should have been disallowed for a foul.

“I was hobbling around a bit over the weekend with the dead leg but I’m confident I will be ready for Saturday.

“I’ve been fortunate on the injury front so far in my career but it’s just part and parcel of the job.”

Daniels’ current loan deal from West Bromwich Albion keeps him at the Prostar Stadium until January 3, and the youngster is unsure what the future will hold beyond that.

“It’s a bit too early to say,” he said. “I’m enjoying it here and I said at the start of the year the target was to get a full season of first-team football under my belt.

“But will just have to see what both managers (Shrewsbury’s Paul Simpson and Albion’s Tony Mowbray) decide.”

A Town reserve team were beaten 5-1 by Crewe in a special behind-closed-doors friendly yesterday arranged to fill the void between scheduled second team fixtures.

Marc Pugh got the Shrewsbury goal in his first outing since returning from a month’s loan with Luton, while midfielder Paul Murray played 45 minutes as he works towards a comeback after a two-month absence with an Achilles problem.

By JAMES GARRISON