The recovery time of James Jones, George Ray and Ryan Wintle will have an effect on what business David Artell conducts in January. The Alex boss is hoping to have his long-term absentees back for the New Year and says that if they are fit and available, he may use his resources in other positions.

For example, if George Ray has fully recovered from his back injury would Artell need to bring in another central defender?

“It would be a welcome boost to have our injured players back in January. We would be in a much stronger position and we would know if we have to plan with or without them, " Artell said.

“Jonah and George haven’t kicked a ball all season and Ryan was out for a long time as well. In the worst case scenario we would have to continue to plan without them. In the best case scenario we would have three quality players back and we could put our resources into other areas.

“It happened back in August when we knew we were going to be without James and George and we had to move quickly to bring in Conor (Grant) and Sam (Stubbs).

“If we have a better idea of where they are at in the next few weeks, then it will not be too late in the day to get someone in as cover.”