Cheltenham Town manager Martin Allen's injury crisis deepened after he revealed that two further players face fitness tests ahead of Tuesday's FA Cup replay at Doncaster.

Allen refused to reveal the identity of the two players, but admitted that both were 'struggling' to be fit to feature at the Keepmoat Stadium, where the winners will earn a dream fourth-round tie against Aston Villa.

With up to eight players out through a mixture of injury, suspension and ineligibility, Allen may be forced to hand one of his youth-team players a shock start.

Youngsters Marley Watkins, Jack Durrant, Lewis Fathers and Dean Maynard are believed to have trained with the squad yesterday and one of those could be offered a starting role if the two doubtful players – who both played at Colchester on Saturday – are ruled out following their fitness tests on Tuesday morning.

"We have another two players that will need fitness tests before the game at Doncaster," Allen confirmed.

"We only had 12 fit professionals and a few scholars training on Monday morning so we are a bit short in terms of numbers.

"We have already lost Paul Connor (hamstring) and John Finnigan (suspension) and have eight players unavailable. We are massive underdogs but we still have the players to pull off an upset.

"It would be a difficult game even if we had our strongest XI on the pitch. We are a little bit limited in terms of numbers but I just draw strength from that. It creates an extra amount of resilience and we are certainly not sulking about it.

"We have to get the players into a positive frame of mind and go out there and do the business. I always feel that we have a good chance to win any game whatever players we put out on the park."

Long-term Achilles injury victim Shane Duff is primed for a start for the first time in over three months after completing 45 minutes of a reserve-team outing last week. The defender has not featured since Allen's first game in charge, against Bristol Rovers on September 16, and the manager joked: "We have so many injuries that even I might have to bring my boots!"

Meanwhile, defender Michael Townsend has returned from his loan spell at Barnet but is cup-tied and cannot play against Doncaster. Allen confirmed that the League Two club will not be making a bid to sign Townsend permanently.