DAVID Holdsworth will bid to strengthen his Mansfield Town squad after being told Kyle Nix could be sidelined until the New Year, reports Matt Halfpenny of the Nottingham Evening Post.

The central midfielder is to have surgery on an ankle problem after having a scan.

Nix's lay-off is a blow to the Stags, who take a break from their Blue Square Premier campaign to take on Forest Green in the FA Cup first round proper on Saturday.

But Holdsworth hopes to juggle his resources to have a new face in place by the time the squad travel to Gloucestershire.

"I have to be able to fill up the bench at Forest Green on Saturday and at the moment I can only just about do that," he said.

"I might have to bring in another player. Either someone who is out of contract or someone on loan.

"Kyle is certainly a player we are going to miss and could well be out until the New Year.

"He was just starting to come into his own and was one of our best players in those games leading up to his injury.

"He's had a scan and a second opinion and the boy needs an operation.

"We didn't want to go down the route of an operation. We were hoping it might just be a case of an injection."

Paul Heckingbottom is 50-50 to make the trip to the New Lawn after coming off in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Histon with a back spasm.

Louis Briscoe (knee) is unlikely to play, but may be in contention for the game at Crawley on November 14.

Tim Sandercombe (thigh) is spending time at Lilleshall this week to step up his rehabilitation.