PLAYER boss Steve Davis faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering injury in Nantwich Town's shock FA Cup exit.

The influential centre-half suffered a suspected torn groin early on in a 2-1 defeat at home to UCL Premier outfit Deeping Rangers.

If as bad as first suspected, Davis could be out of action for around two months as his side look to maintain their promotion push in NWC Division One.

It's a case of concentrating on the league for now after suffering an upset in last Saturday's preliminary round clash.

Despite a dodgy start, Nantwich went mighty close to a 16th-minute opener when Danny Griggs darting in from the left unleashed a blistering shot that keeper Bircham just about tipped over the bar.

Losing Davis soon after was a big blow for the hosts but they recovered to close out the first-half on top.

Another fine run down the left by Griggs created the opener, feeding Andy Kinsey on the edge of the box.

The in-form striker turned his marker before blasting the ball underneath Bircham on 49 minutes.

Although the Dabbers weren't at their best, they looked likely to hang on until Deeping turned the game around with two in two minutes.

Mattson won a hotly-contested penalty on 77 minutes with Ellison stepping up to convert.

Inside 60 seconds and Deeping were flying, Mattson again doing damage as he burst through the defence and finished from close range.

Stung into a response, Nantwich threw everything forward to no avail.

"I'm disappointed, I wanted to do well in this competition," admitted Davis.

"Financially it can be quite rewarding and it would have been nice to get through to the first round proper and get a league club.

"It wasn't a bad performance but we were a bit casual and overconfident.

"We sat back when we scored and that's not like us.

"We created chances but didn't finish them off.

"Now I'm looking for a reaction for the players in the league."

Davis was due to find out the extent of his injury, earlier this week.

"It feels like I've torn my groin," he added.

"It could be a month, my gut feeling is it will take a bit longer."

l Nantwich did respond, winning 4-2 at early rivals Maine Road on Tuesday night.

Richards cancelled out Griggs' 15th minute opener but the Dabbers turned it around with two goals in three minutes.

Kinsey netted on 43 minutes with Beasley adding a third on the verge of the interval.

Kinsey struck again to make it 4-1 before Chappell added late consolation.

They entertain Silsden on Saturday.