Darlington midfielder Phil Stamp could be allowed to leave the club on loan during the upcoming transfer window. The former Harts and Middlesbrough player has managed just five starts since he joined the club in October last year.
Stamp has suffered a catalogue of injury problems since he made his bow as a substitute in the 1–0 FA Cup defeat against Barnsley over twelve months ago. Things appeared to be getting better for the midfielder as he trained consistently for three weeks and played seventy minutes of a recent reserve game against Hartlepool.
Unfortunately Stamp will be out for ten days after suffering another problem in training earlier this week – this time a concern with his hamstring. Penney feels Stamp has been working very hard of late and the latest injury news will come as a blow for the player.
"I've been signing his praises for the last three or four weeks," said Penney. "He has been doing double sessions a day and he has been working hard. Speaking to the physio and he says that is the longest he has trained for a while. We trained very hard on Tuesday and we couldn't do much of a session on Wednesday because the pitch was frozen. We took them for a run and a few strides he pulled up."
Penney revealed yesterday afternoon that Stamp could be allowed to leave the club on loan in order to get a regular run of first team games. The Darlington manager recognises the midfielder's quality but needs to work out how to get him onto the pitch and into competitive matches.
"It is a reoccurring thing with Stampy. We might even have to look to send him out on loan for a month somewhere and just play a few games on the bounce and see if his body can handle it. His body keeps breaking down on him at the moment. He is only thirty–one, he should be in his prime with the quality he has got," said Penney.
Meanwhile Jack Norton has signed a one month deal with the club as goalkeeping cover.
Darlington midfielder Phil Stamp could be allowed to leave the club on loan during the upcoming transfer window. The former Harts and Middlesbrough player has managed just five starts since he joined the club in October last year.