CHRIS Smith may be sacrificed from Worcester City's FA Cup line-up to face Hemel Hempstead Town tomorrow in order to protect his broken hand.

Smith suffered five fractures to his right hand in the 2-2 second qualifying round draw with Romulus and played in a cast in the 3-2 defeat to Harrogate last week.

But, with Smith facing a one-match ban against Hucknall next Saturday following five yellow cards this season, manager Andy Preece is considering leaving him out to give him extra time to recover.

Preece said: "If he falls on it wrong he's going to do more damage so if he has to miss one game that might be the way to go.

"The sooner we can get the cast off the better."

That could mean a recall for defender Shabir Khan, who Smith replaced alongside Des Lyttle and Justin Thompson in City's back-three against Harrogate.

The manager said: "We just felt Shabir Khan had done really well in previous games but hadn't looked himself in the last couple of matches.

"He's done really well and we have been pleased with him. It was just a tactical decision.

"Shabir's definitely part of my plans."