RYAN Toulson may be a first team coach at Bradford (Park Avenue), but he has turned into a pretty handy central midfielder of late too.

The player/coach is primarily a right-back, but with Bradford short in the middle of the park this season, Toulson has stepped up and delivered some excellent performances in there.

Avenue manager Mark Bower said: "We've lost Jake Hibbs to injury and Adam Nowakowski's had other commitments.

"Nicky Clee has had to cover at left back with Matty Downing and Mitch Lund both out, so we've been short in the middle of the park.

"It's an area we are wanting to strengthen in with a couple of new signings ideally, but Tully's done a really good job covering in there.

"His voice and experience helps others too.

"He's played alongside Isaac Marriott and Lucas Odunston in the last couple of games, and Isaac got those two goals at Gateshead and Lucas had his best game for us at Curzon on Saturday, even though we lost 2-1."

Bower added: "Tully's versatile, so he can drop into a few positions and we can rely on him every time.

"He's done well, so although we are looking for cover in there, we'll see how it all pans out long term.

"Even when Tully was in there last season, for the likes of Fylde away and Darlington away, they were some of our best performances."

Arguably Avenue's best natural central midfielder is Hibbs, but he had his leg broken early on in a tackle in a National League North match at Chorley in August.

That caused the game to be abandoned, and it has now been re-arranged for tomorrow, as both teams are already out of the FA Cup.

Chorley have announced that the game will be free entry, while also acting as a fundraiser for Hibbs.

Bower said: "It's a nice touch from Chorley, as you can get cynical with how football is at times, but then sometimes people do the right thing like this.

"Jake's doing okay, he's still a while away from returning to work or football, but his partner has just given birth, so he has plenty to keep him occupied."

Tomorrow's hosts Chorley are only 10th, but did have a crazy 9-0 home win over Gloucester City last month.

Bower said: "It just shows that anyone can beat anyone in this league.

"Just before we played Chorley that first time, they lost 3-0 at 10-man Telford, then the week after our game, they beat Gloucester 9-0.

"Gloucester had only beaten York 4-0 two weeks before.

"Chorley are a strong, physical side, who are good from set-pieces. That's something we have to be wary of, as that was where we struggled at Curzon last week.

"You saw how capable Chorley are with their great FA Cup run last year, but we started well against them in August before Jake's injury, so we'll look to do that again and try and take control."

Bower's team came through the defeat to Curzon unscathed, and he said he was hopeful of welcoming back Downing and Lund for Chorley, though both are touch and go for tomorrow.