BASINGSTOKE Town are facing something of an injury crisis heading into their FA Cup third qualifying round tie against Chelmsford City.

The Dragons look set to go into Saturday's game at The Camrose (3pm) without four players – and with three of the missing men being midfielders, manager Jason Bristow could find his tactical options limited.

Shaun McAuley misses out through suspension after being sent off in the club's 4-2 victory over Slough Town in the last round, while Jamie Brown remains sidelined with a hip problem.

Bristow had been hoping to welcome Simon Dunn back after a hamstring injury, but the midfielder has suffered a setback in his recovery and is unlikely to feature this weekend.

Striker Lloyd Macklin is also a doubt, having broken down in the warm-up ahead of last week's trip to Bath City.

Basingstoke may sit bottom of the National League South heading into the game, but they are unbeaten in four outings, a run that has coincided with Bristow moving to a 4-2-3-1 system.

However, with Brown, Dunn and McAuley all missing, the Town boss has a difficult decisions to make in the centre of the park. He can either change the shape of the team or play somebody out of position alongside James Harper.

Should Bristow decide to stick with his favoured formation, defender Robbie Rice is probably favourite to get the nod, while other options include David Ray, Louie Soares and Manny Williams.

"The system is working well at the moment," Bristow said. "We certainly look a bit more solid and harder to break down, but whether we can play the same system on Saturday may be dictated to us by who is available.

"We are thin on the ground and have spent the last few weeks trying to find players to strengthen and help the squad, but it has been difficult.

"In terms of loans, a lot of clubs don't want their players cup-tied, and it's proving difficult to find the right players at the right price."

Cup opponents Chelmsford have made a solid start to the season in National League South and sit ninth in the table.

However, their form has been somewhat mixed in recent weeks. They lost 4-0 at home to Oxford City last week and have only won two of their last seven, but they beat title favourites Ebbsfleet United in the last round of the FA Cup.

Bristow said: "We had Chelmsford watched last week and they were well beaten, but in the game before, they won well at Ebbsfleet.

"They are no mugs and have had a reasonable start to the season. They have been scoring plenty of goals and we will have to be at our best to get through.

"They are quite direct at times but have got some experienced players and will be tough to play against. They have had some good results, so we will need to be careful."