James Beattie may have to put his boots back on as Stanley host Cardiff in the Capital One Cup second round tomorrow.

The former England striker was named the Reds’ new manager in May and while he registered as a player again for this season, he said he’d only pick himself in an emergency.

The 35-year-old didn’t envisage that emergency coming less than a month into the season, though, with his squad having already been hit by injury.

Beattie only named six of all possible seven substitutes for Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Cheltenham, which saw Stanley remain bottom of League Two.

And having hobbled off late on, Laurence Wilson (groin) has joined Nicky Hunt (knee) and Andrew Dawber (hamstring) in the treatment room. Dean Winnard and George Miller aren’t match fit either, while Danny Webber still has one match to run on his three-game ban.

Beattie may therefore have to name himself as one of the subs against Cardiff. The Premier League new boys beat the 2012 champions Manchester City on Sunday and although they are expected to field a much-changed side, it should still feature many players from last season’s Championship-winning side.

Stanley have taken one point from four league games but bounced back from their 4-1 opening-day defeat at Newport to win 2-1 at Championship side Middlesbrough in the first round.

“It reminds me a bit of the first game of the season,” said Beattie. “We had a great opportunity to put it right and we went to Middlesbrough and got an amazing result.

“The feeling in the dressing room after the game on Saturday was nothing like what we experienced at the Riverside. The lads need to recreate that sort of performance and that sort of feeling.

“As I’ve said to them, ‘it’s not how you get knocked down, it’s how you come back from it’.

“It’s a huge week for us, it’s a huge week for the club, so they need to pick themselves up and I’ll be looking at how they react.”

The match kicks off at 7.45pm and fans can pay at the turnstile, with prices £15 (adults), £10 (over-65s), £6 (students/under-17s) and £1 (for accompanied under-12s).