Skipper Sam Gaughran looks set for a midfield role as King's Lynn Town take their walking wounded to Buckinghamshire.

The Linnets' 1-0 home win over Hitchin on Tuesday night came at a cost with Lee Smith, a key figure in the side's engine room, limping off with a quad injury. He's almost certain to miss out this afternoon along with fellow suspended central midfielder Michael Clunan forcing Gary Setchell to shuffle his pack at Chesham United.

Lynn's boss said: 'Lee Smith is a massive blow for us with Clunan being suspended for the next two. We're well light in the middle of midfield now.

'We'll perhaps have to deploy Sam back in there. Lee is almost certainly a no-no and that's a bit of a disaster because he's been top drawer the last seven or eight games. Like I say, with Clunan suspended that's a real killer for us.

'Sam came on and conducted himself magnificently on Tuesday. To go on and play like he did, which was first class, you've just got to take your hat off to him.'

Gaughran, primarily a centre-back, has been used as an anchorman already this season. In midweek he came off the substitutes' bench to join Kern Miller at the heart of Lynn's defence after Matty Castellan broke his nose in the first half.

The young centre back is likely to be declared fit for this afternoon's Southern League Premier Division clash – as is midweek goalscorer John Sands.

The loanee played with a bandage on his wrist after hurting himself on his debut at Frome last weekend. And he will continue to play through the pain barrier come 3pm as Lynn aim to stay within touching distance of the play-off positions.

Sands wrote on Twitter: 'Great. Second X-ray reveals I've got a broken wrist. Will have to wait to get a cast so I'll have to strap it up. I will play on Saturday and Monday at least because I'm not getting the full cast until Tuesday.'

The striker's classy winner at The Walks leaves Lynn, ninth, eight points off the top five with eight games, one more than a handful of sides above them, to go. It'll be a tough ask at The Meadow, though, with Chesham, unbeaten in seven, having not lost at home to any of the sides in the top six this season.

Setchell added: 'It was a massive win for us in midweek. Everyone had written us off. The play-offs were over. Well we just gave them a gentle reminder that we're still trying. We're not going to fold like a deck of cards like we did last year.'