Neil Thompson has been handed some welcome selection posers ahead of tomorrow's trip to Rochdale, writes Dave Stanford.

Thompson, who confirmed both he and Steve Agnew will sit out the trip to Spotland, admitted Martin Reed's performance against Darlington coupled with Wayne Hall's recovery from a thigh strain had given him an extra option at left back

And the loss of Agnew, possibly for two weeks with an ankle injury, has been softened the by the return to training of midfield maestro Scott Jordan.

However, Thompson has yet to finalise his starting 11 and admitted it was by no means certain Jordan would automatically fill the void left by Agnew.

"Both Scott and Wayne have trained which is good news and so they come back into the squad," said the City chief.

"But the lads who played the other night did very well. Martin did really well at left back in a position that is foreign to him so we will have to see."

One option open to Thompson is to start with Jordan on the bench, keep Reed at left back, push Hall in at left midfield with Christian Fox and Lee Bullock resuming their partnership in the centre of midfield.

"It is a dilemma but it is good to have competition," said Thompson. "And we can certainly draw positives from Tuesday night's performance at Darlington when I thought the lads were terrific."

After an unbeaten start to the season, including a 3-0 tonking of City at Bootham Crescent, Rochdale suffered an alarming slump when they failed to score in seven games.

However, over the last ten games they have lost just once and are now in 11th place, just two points off the play-offs with a game in hand.

There position should have been even better after taking a 3-0 half-time lead against Alan Little's Southend last Saturday but the Shrimpers rallied valiantly to snatch a point in a six-goal thriller.

Problems for Dale boss Steve Parkin lie in midfield after Jason Peake suffered a calf strain against Southend and is rated doubtful.

Definitely out is fellow midfielder David Flitcroft through suspension meaning assistant manager and golden oldie Tony Ford, approaching 900 league appearances, could come in on the right with former Scarborough full-back Graeme Atkinson drafted into midfield.

Parkin may also consider handing central midfielder Warren Peyton, a summer acquisition from Bolton, his first start of the season.

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