SKIPPER Gareth Davies is facing a month on the sidelines after suffering a torn groin muscle in Saturday's 2-1 win at Folkestone Invicta.

Davies headed the Bluebirds level just past half hour, but limped off the field after the break after kicking thin air while under pressure from a Folkestone forward.

He will undergo extensive treatment in a bid to heal the injury, and was relieved to learn surgery is unlikely to be necessary.

He said: "At the absolute minimum I'm looking at four weeks out. It was just a freak thing. I've gone to kick the ball, the lad has pulled my arm away and there was no resistance there.

"First impressions are that I have torn something. To what extent we don't know yet, because there is a lot of bruising and a lot of swelling there. At one point on Saturday I was panicking that I would need surgery to stitch everything back together again because it felt that bad, but I'm more optimistic now.''

Davies will definitely miss the Bluebirds' big FA Cup clash against Weymouth on Saturday and, should his side progress, he could also miss the third and fourth qualifying rounds of the competition as well.

Said Davies: "I'm going to really miss playing over the next four weeks, but especially the game on Saturday because I've always loved playing in the FA Cup.

"It is a fantastic competition and it was always my dream to play in it as a young lad.''

Davies has been beset by injury problems over the past fortnight since hurting his neck while working for chairman Malcolm Lyus' firm DL Windows. He has been pleased with the progress of the knee injury that forced him to quit the professional game in January,.

Said Davies: "I shouldn't have even played against Weymouth and only played because Tommy asked me to.

"I didn't play at Grantham on the Saturday afterwards, while at Newport County someone landed on my achilles. Perhaps it is just my luck, but I've still played nine or ten games and that is good when you consider the situation with my knee.

"I looked at the fixtures at the beginning of the season and only expected to have played about seven by now, to be honest.''