Newcastle Town's destroyer when they met King's Lynn Town a fortnight ago – Dan Quigley – will be sidelined this afternoon when the two teams meet again in Staffordshire.

The all-action midfielder scored his first hat-trick in Lynn colours to help his side win 3-2 at The Walks but will miss today's trip thanks to a knee injury.

Quigley played 90 minutes during the Linnets' 2-2 draw at Carlton Town before realising he had a problem and boss Gary Setchell says he will take no risks with the fans' favourite's fitness – and the same goes for his central-midfield partner Richard Bunting.

The Lynn manager said: 'He (Quigley) doesn't even know when he did it. After the game he didn't report it to our physio (Phil Ward) but said to me in the bar that his knee was swollen.

'By Thursday it had come up like a balloon so he went to hospital and had an X-Ray. While they found nothing he left A&E on crutches. He had it elevated on Friday and it's better but he will miss today's match – which is a body blow.

'He's very disappointed and it doesn't help that his partner in crime Bunts (Bunting) is taking longer to recover from his on-going groin problem. He didn't sleep on Wednesday after the game and could hardly move.

'He's eager to play but I have to be sensible and we have to take it almost hour by hour. I've not known many players who have carried on playing in the pain he's been in. He'll be in the squad but he might have to miss out. We'll assess him.

'We've had it all season, players putting their bodies on the line, and I think it's a big reason we've done so well. We haven't got many prima donnas. Quigz (Quigley) and Bunts never shirk a tackle, like most of the squad. If I threw Quigz' crutches in the bin he'd try and give it a go but I have to be sensible.

'I can't play half-fit players when I have got a good squad. I improved the squad by bringing players in for this type of situation and there's plenty of options for who can play in midfield.'

The Linnets, unbeaten in 10 matches, sit third in Evo-Stik Division One South just one point behind second-placed Stamford and 11 off table-topping Coalville Town.

They have games in hand on both and even though their 100pc league record came to an end in midweek, Setchell is confident his side can keep up the pressure on the league leaders – who they visit on Tuesday.

He said: 'It wasn't a bad point at all on Wednesday and we're now 10 unbeaten. If we get to 14, like we did earlier in the season, we will be in with a good shout of having a crack at trying to win the league.

'Newcastle will be very tough. They made it tough for us at ours and I watched them at Stamford on Tuesday. They play good football, are a young side, and to be fair Stamford overpowered them more than anything.

'We've got some huge games coming up and the fixture list hasn't been that kind to us with four away matches in five, three being in midweek. It's very tough at this level but we've just got to keep pressing on. There's no sulking. We're in it together. We believe if we can't win the league we can win the play-offs, that's for certain. It's going to be an exciting few months.'

Goalkeeper Danny Gay should be fit to face 17th-placed Newcastle after picking up a dead leg at Carlton.

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