STEPHEN Darby is keeping his fingers crossed that City won’t lose defensive hard man Rory McArdle for long.

McArdle is set to miss tomorrow’s tussle with Burton at Valley Parade after dislocating his shoulder.

The centre half suffered the injury at the end of Saturday’s goalless draw at Bury, and Nathan Clarke is expected to step back in alongside Reece Burke against the leaders.

Darby said: “It was a disappointment for us to see Rory stay down.

“He’s a hard lad so you know there’s something wrong with him. Hopefully he will be all right.

“He’s a massive player for us. Since Rory signed three or four years ago, he’s been absolutely brilliant for the club.

“He’s an ever-present who always puts his body on the line. You can see his quality week in, week out.

“But that’s why you have a squad for when you get injuries and we’ve got good competition.”

McArdle, who is understood to have had surgery on his left shoulder in the past to hold it in place, was knocked off balance and put his arm out to cushion the landing.

He was helped off the pitch with his shirt tied up as a makeshift sling to support it.

Phil Parkinson said: “It’s a real shame because Rory played well. He was right at his best.

“I’ve done it myself when I’ve had a complete dislocation and it is very painful. He’s a tough lad and we just hope it’s not too bad.

“Rory will be a miss if he’s out but we’ve got other players to come in and fill that hole.”

Darby felt that City’s 0-0 draw at Gigg Lane, their third goalless draw on the bounce against Bury, helped put the record straight after the slip-up against bottom club Colchester.

They now go into back-to-back home games this week three points outside the play-offs.

“We needed to bounce back because we knew last week wasn’t good enough,” said the City skipper. “You saw we had a good spirit about us.

“We’ve played Bury enough this year to know what to expect. They have got a good home record.

“It was important we showed some character. It would have been nice to get three points but if you can’t do that, then take the clean sheet.”

Barnsley and Millwall, in fifth and sixth respectively, both won at the weekend but Coventry lost at home again as their wobble continues.

With 12 games to go, Darby admits it is hard to predict how many wins eighth-placed City will need.

He added: “I’m not too sure. You look at the table and everyone’s beating each other.

“We’ve still got to play most of the sides in and around us between now and the end of the season and I’m sure there will be plenty more twists and turns.

“But we can’t look too far ahead. We’ve got to concentrate on building on performances like Saturday.

“We’ve got two home games coming up and we’ve got to use that to our advantage. We have to build on that point come tomorrow night.”