Captaincy is no burden on Ben

Ben Davies has refuted suggestions he has been hindered by the burden of the Shrewsbury Town captaincy - by revealing he has been playing through "agony" this season.Davies missed the first four months of the campaign as he continued the rehabilitation from a ruptured Achilles tendon sustained in last season's play-offs which left his Wembley dream in tatters.

He has been a regular since December, and hopes to be involved against former club Chester tomorrow, although has struggled to hit the heights of last season.

But the 26-year-old insists that is a consequence of his six-month injury absence rather than the skipper's armband.

"It's been nothing to do with the captaincy," said Davies. "I've loved everything that comes with that and hopefully the gaffer will keep me with it next season.

"It's been a hard season for me. You can count the number of games on one hand where I haven't been in agony.

"I was out for six or seven months, played one reserve game and I was thrown back in.

"That was great for me but there have been games where I have had nothing to give having missed out on pre-season and that's probably the reason why I've had problems with the first the hamstring and now the back.

"I'm in need of a rest and I don't think I have ever needed a rest like I have needed one now.

"I've played about 20 games when probably one would have been a bonus this season."

Davies, however, is hopeful of being fit to play some part in tomorrow's home clash with relegation-threatened Chester after a recovery in the back injury sustained last weekend.

"I was just warming up (at Mansfield) and felt the back going into spasm at 2.45pm and I just had no chance," he said. "It was a nightmare because it was a big game and I was desperate to play.

"It was agony until Tuesday but I went to see the specialist and had some acupuncture and it's been getting better since so hopefully I'm fit enough to play some part tomorrow.

"It's the last home game of the season and the chance for us to end on a high which is important because it's been such a poor season."

Meanwhile, Kelvin Langmead went for a scan yesterday which has revealed swelling around his patella tendon area.

Boss Paul Simpson said that was not a serious injury, and hopes to have the striker-cum-defender back and raring to go in pre-season.