Stafford Rangers assistant manager Darren Read hailed top scorer Nick Wellecomme for playing through the pain once again to solve the club’s striking crisis.

The seven-goal forward played up front on his own in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Blyth Spartans despite a back injury, after strike partner Ben Mills left the club to join league rivals Alfreton on Friday.

Wellecomme eventually went off after 71 minutes to give Partick Samba his debut, as the team went out of the FA Trophy in the first hurdle of the third qualifying round for the second season in a row.

Rangers now have the week to see if their star striker will be passed fit for Saturday’s trip to Hinckley, with midfielder Levi Reid also suspended after a red card on Saturday – a second booking that left their assistant boss fuming.

He said: “Levi’s sending off was cruel, the linesman gave the one foul not the referee, and he then got punished for a little bit of a fracas that he was trying to get away from, but got dragged into by their player. Luck was against us a little bit, it was just one of those days.

“Nick played injured to help the team out and he was in absolute agony, so it was one of them in that respect. We went there with a severely depleted forward line – hardly the best preparation for a tough game like that.

“But we were unlucky in the end – Jake Moult and Tom Thorley for us were the best two players on the pitch.”