Captain Stuart Whitehead is on course to return to AFC Telford United fray tomorrow – as the Bucks aim to kick-start their Blue Square North campaign at Gainsborough.

Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Hinckley capped a patchy opening four games for Rob Smith’s side who have picked up five points.

Even at this early stage of the season, Telford will be mindful of not falling too far off the promotion pace.

But the return of the talismanic Whitehead for his first League outing of the season following a knee injury is set to provide a significant boost.

“Stuart came through training last night and has got a very good chance of being able to start,” said assistant manager Larry Chambers. “This is his third season with us and, during pre-season, he looked fitter and stronger than at any other stage during that three years. It was really unfortunate that he picked up an injury in what was a Mickey Mouse friendly against Prescot Cables.

Chambers is eyeing a significant improvement from Tuesday night’s display.

“I think we have to get better on what we did in the whole game,” he added.

“The second half was better – but I think it looked better than it was because of how bad we were in the first half.

“Defensively we were shocking, but that was as a collective. There is definitely more to come and we have worked on a few things.

“Gainsborough is never an easy place to go. They have just sacked their manager which always gets another 10 per cent out of the players, but if we play as we can, we can get a positive result.”

Centre back Jimmy Turner misses tomorrow’s game with a side strain, while the Bucks have decided not to appeal against the sending off of midfielder Carl Rodgers.