Byron Moore is expected to miss at least the next month after suffering ankle ligament damage in the 1-1 draw with Torquay on Saturday. The winger was unable to continue after being caught twice by full-back Lethaniel Rowe-Turner in the opening 11 minutes and had to be replaced by the returning Calvin Zola.

Moore is expected to miss at least the next four weeks of the season but Dario Gradi is hoping to have the Stoke-on-Trent born youngster back before the conclusion of the campaign.

Dario told crewealex.net: Byron has ankle ligament damage and will be out for weeks rather than months. We are looking at four or five weeks, so hopefully he will be back before the end of the season.

"It is a blow for Byron because he had got himself back in the team and started the game brightly on Saturday. He was looking dangerous again so this is a set-back for him.

"We have enough players in the squad to cover for his loss but it is still not good to have players in the team out injured."