INJURY-STRICKEN stars Ian Lawson and Matt Barrass may yet play a part in Shakers' dramatic promotion campaign.

It has been another year of frustration for the pair, who would almost certainly figure in the first team but for a succession of fitness troubles which have blighted their campaign.

Lawson has shown great promise as a striking partner to Jon Newby but a broken wrist and, more recently, ankle problems have restricted his first team appearances to merely sporadic spells.

Barrass' problems go back even further.

The defender only lasted the first three matches of the 2000-01 campaign before suffering cruciate ligament damage in his knee.

After finally recovering from that, he went down with glandular fever which kept him sidelined until the beginning of last season.

But again, after only a hanful of games, he suffered cruciate damage -- this time in his other knee.

He seemed to have recovered from all his woes midway through this season but incredibly developed a cartilage problem and needed yet further surgery on his knee.

Now he is back in action for the reserves in a bid to rebuild his match fitness and Preece is confident both he and Lawson will make a vital contribution before the campaign.

"Hopefully we can get them match fit before the end because we need as many people on board as possible, especially with so many games coming up over Easter," he said.

"We will need to be in a position where we can rest players if they look tired. So it will be great to have Laws and Matty back in the squad again. They've had a tough time."

Preece is unlikely to make any major changes to the side which won at Exeter last week, though young striker Chris Porter is expected to make a return to the bench.