Lowestoft Town are likely to once again be without skipper Dan Gleeson as the Blues kick-off their Conference North campaign at Crown Meadow with the visit of Solihull Moors.

Gleeson missed the Trawlerboys' 2-2 draw at Chorley on Saturday after picking up an injury in training last week.

The former Luton man, who became part of the club's coaching set-up during the summer, is expected to miss out again, with Sam Gaughran taking the captain's armband.

'Dan Gleeson is a worry still - he tweaked his glute in training the other night and obviously missed Saturday,' said director of football, Craig Fleming. 'He is very influential for us so he's a big miss when he's not playing.

'We need to wait for that to settle down but I think Tuesday will come too soon for him.'

Saturday's man-of-the-match Ashlee Jones is expected to start despite an ongoing shoulder problem.

The former Canvey Island goalkeeper underlined his importance to the Blues at Chorley with a string of fine saves to keep their hosts at bay.

'Ashlee was top class,' added Fleming. 'He put in a very good performance. His shoulder is one that he is just going to have to manage. It's sore but as it stands he should be okay.'

Lowestoft's home form will be key to their chances of success this season as the club adjusts to life in the second tier of non-league football.

The difficulties they face this season were emphasised at the weekend as despite a 5.45am start they still arrived late for the game, meaning the kick-off had to be delayed for 15 minutes.

Fleming admitted the club's travel arrangements must be looked at before they travel to Gainsborough on Saturday, August 23.

'Our journey was ridiculous - we left at 5.45am and didn't get to Chorley until 2.30pm,' he said. 'It was very testing for the players and they deserve a lot of credit for pulling out a result. That's (Chorley) our third longest journey of the season and we always said we would have to look at things like travel arrangements as we went along.

'I suppose it does make the home form even more crucial but for a lot of teams we will be their only long trip of the season. That means they can perhaps budget for an over-night stay - we can't afford to do that for our away games. But we knew when we were put in Conference North that it was never going to be easy.'

New signing Michael Clunan is expected to start from the bench tonight after signing Conference North forms with the Blues on Friday night.

The former Boston United and Histon midfielder is hoping to earn a contract at Crown Meadow.

'We had a bit of a look at him against King's Lynn (in a friendly) and we like the look of him. Technically, he looks very decent and we just want to have a bit of time to assess him. He comes from a good pedigree – he has signed forms with us and we will see from there.'