NEIL Young’s pre-season build-up has been dealt a blow after it was revealed Altrincham skipper Shaun Densmore will miss up to two months of the new campaign.

Attacking right-back Densmore had hoped to be fit for the big kick-off after undergoing surgery on a medial ligament injury midway through last season.

But another knee problem has hampered his progress, and even if the results of a scan next week prove favourable, he could still be out until early October.

After seeing his side recover from going behind for a third successive time, in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at Trafford, Alty boss Young said: "Shaun has had a lot of pain in a different area of the knee and will see the specialist again next week for another MRI scan. We will be governed by what the scan tells us, but hopefully it will just be a bit of tendonitis, rather than anything serious.

"Realistically, if he is okay, and allowing for working his way back to fitness, you are probably talking about the end of September or beginning of October before we would even consider him.

"He is a million miles away. He hasn’t done anything in terms of pre-season. He has to strengthen that leg up and strengthen the quad to an extent where it’s capable of withstanding a full-blooded challenge.

"We all know the way Shaun plays. He gets stuck in and flies into tackles. He’s had a lot of wastage in his thigh muscle, because he’s not been able to do a lot, so clearly there’s a lot of work ahead."

Alty face a Manchester United XI at The J Davidson Stadium on Friday (7.45pm) to officially mark the pitch improvements that have been made possible by a £20,000 grant from the Premier League through the Football Stadia Improvement Fund.

Alty’s playing surface will benefit from regular irrigation and new pitch maintenance equipment, including sprinklers that were on show against Chester last Saturday.

"Clubs like ours would find it impossible to maintain a good standard of facility without this funding, and we are extremely grateful," said chairman Grahame Rowley.