Matt Elliott calls on Rangers captain

Stafford Rangers manager Matt Elliott could be boosted by the return of captain Craig McAughtrie ahead of schedule for the trip to Gloucester.

McAughtrie was expected to miss the match with the hip injury that caused him to miss last Saturday's win over Blyth Spartans, but Elliott is hopeful the defender will be fit tomorrow after positive reports this week.

And the Rangers boss should finally be able to welcome back the club's longest serving player, Andre Francis, who has missed the last six games with a knee injury.

Elliott has seen both Levi Reid and Shane Benjamin leave the club this week but that will not have an immediate effect on his match-day squad, as both missed the Blyth game with an ankle problem and illness respectively.

Reid has still not completed his move to AFC Telford despite telling the manager he wants to go, but was expected to be sidelined this weekend in any case.

And Elliott is looking on the bright side, as he could be two players better off than the team who pulled off one of Rangers' best wins of the season last weekend.

He said: "We don't do things easy, it's going to be a battle up there and we have to be mentally prepared for that.

"But we put in what I consider to be our best performance of the season last Saturday and, if you look at the team, Shane and Levi didn't play.

"We have got to be positive about that and, with Craig and Andre hopefully coming back, we will be a stronger team tomorrow than we were last weekend."

The Rangers boss has seen two players leave with perhaps more to follow after a 40 per cent cut in his playing budget last week, while the team are still three points from safety in the Blue Square North.

But Elliott, who took charge in January, insists he is still loving life at Marston Road.

He said: "It's part and parcel of football life and, at many of the clubs I have been it, it's never been plain sailing.

"We have had our ups and downs, certainly more downs than I would have liked, but I enjoy the involvement of being in a football environment.

"I like the responsibility of being able to have an influence on things, in different ways, but I try not to let it overtake me, as I want to enjoy myself and I want the players to enjoy themselves.

"They need to be kept in the right frame of mind as this is a testing time but, despite the situation, I am enjoying every minute of it."