Dinning ready to lead at Rangers

Stafford Rangers midfielder Tony Dinning is steeling himself to lead the team in the three-game absence of suspended captain Nick Wellecomme.

The veteran former Wolves player took the armband in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Blyth Spartans, with Wellecomme dismissed for an off the ball incident after putting Rangers ahead in the first-half.

Dinning had long before scored his first goal for the club and the equaliser as the home side came from one down to lead, and could now be set for extended run as skipper due as his predecessor serves a three-match ban.

And the 34-year-old, the oldest and most experienced head at Marston Road, is ready to lead from the front for the cause.

He said: "I am happy to lead the side if that is what the manager decides he wants to do, but I would much rather have Nick back in the team than be captain. He's a massive loss, we need someone up there at the moment who can lead the line on his own and that is what he has done so well.

"There are areas in the team that you can survive without a player, but how can you cope without your lone striker?"

Dinning still feels Wellecomme's red card was harsh, in a bad tempered affair at Croft Park that also saw home defender Stephen Harrison sent off for violent conduct and fellow stopper Chris McCabe carried off with a suspected broken leg after a challenge by Rangers right-back Andre Francis.

He said: "It looked to me like Nick went for the ball, the referee reckoned there was intent there but to do what? He's not caught the lad, if something happened off the ball then I didn't see it. The referee then levelled it off by sending off their lad, who had a bit of whatever with Michael Burns.

"They were just two nothing sending offs really, there would have been a good argument for letting it go."