Luke George will play on for Rangers

Stafford Rangers manager Greg Clowes today ruled out dropping Luke George at Northwich Victoria tonight despite his red card woe on Saturday.

George was sent off for stamping on Chester striker Chris Simm after 42 minutes, with Rangers losing 3-0 at Marston Road.

The 18-year-old defender must now serve a three-match ban but is available tonight, as his suspension does not begin until the trip to Ashton United on October 8.

And Clowes has vowed not to punish the teenager with the axe at the Victoria Stadium against the Vics, managed by former Crystal Palace striker Andy Preece.

The Rangers boss said: "If Luke George is available, he will play, because he has been our best defender this season, there's no doubt about that.

"He's a young lad and everybody has done it, he's got to learn and, if he does it again, he's not learning but I am sure he will learn from it.

"Even though I was disappointed with his sending off, I will always back him to the hilt, like I would with any of my players."

Clowes is also considering bringing either Michael Morton or Dan Skelton into a holding midfielder role tonight, after Sean Kinsella and Glynn Blackhurst played in more advanced roles on Saturday.

The manager said: "I have got to make a decision, because Northwich play 4-5-1 when they have got the ball and 4-3-3 when they have.

"They really push on in the wide positions and have three lads in central midfield, so I have got to pick a side that can combat that."

Rangers faced the highest goalscorers in the Evo-Stik Northern League on Saturday and now face the table toppers tonight.

Clowes said: "Northwich have got some very good players who have played at much higher levels, a similar sort of side to Chester.

"Our last five or six games have been against teams who, at the time of playing them, have been in the top six.

"I am going there very open minded and there's no reason why we can't get something there, but we have got to show some consistency."