Following the injury sustained at Radcliffe Boro on Wednesday evening, Dale central defender Rory McArdle will be out of action for between 8 and 12 weeks.

McArdle suffered a dislocated shoulder just fifteen minutes into the game during the week, and it was confirmed by Dale boss Keith Hill at Thursday's Fans Forum that he faces a significant spell on the sidelines.

The diagnosis has suggested that it will be a minimum period of eight weeks that McArdle faces out, though the nature of the injury suggests that this could even be as long as twelve weeks for a full recovery.

With Simon Ramsden, who often deputised in the centre of defence in times of injury, now departed to Bradford, it will leave Hill with the choice of the youngsters Marcus Holness and Craig Dawson to fill in for the former Northern Ireland U-21 captain. And with the budget extremely tight at Spotland, it's unlikely that we'll see a new face coming into Spotland.

Photo: Action Images

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