IAN Street, 1874 Northwich’s manager, will be forced to reshuffle his defence for the visit of Padiham on Saturday afternoon.

Should the contest go ahead – an inspection of the playing surface at St Luke’s Barton Stadium has been scheduled for 10am – then he will select a side shorn of full-back Paul Connor and Craig Farnworth.

Both of them are unavailable.

George Whiteoak, signed last week from Congleton Town, could make his debut for the club.

A face familiar to Northwich supporters, Dilan Lomas, is an alternative too.

As expected, Sam Hind (hamstring) is ruled out by an injury that he aggravated during a 1-0 defeat at promotion-rivals Atherton Collieries last time out.

1874 have not played since.

The league did not schedule a fixture last weekend, while a home date with Maine Road in midweek was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

Street has everybody else available for a meeting with the Storks, who 1874 eliminated from the Macro Cup back in October following a 3-2 win.

They have yet to meet in the league.

1874 enter the weekend occupying fourth place in the North West Counties League’s Premier Division, eight points adrift of Colls with a dozen matches left.