York midfielder Smith remains with Hatters for now

There had been rumours that Smith’s parent club York City would recall the 26-year-old from Kenilworth Road before his loan deal expired.

But although they could still go through with it, boss Paul Buckle confirmed it hadn’t happened yet and he was in the squad for Saturday’s home clash with Alfreton Town.

He said: “He’s okay for Saturday at the moment, I’ve not had a call!

“I’ve got a decent relationship with Gary Mills, so we’re speaking all the time. I spoke to Gary this week about it and it’s something that the two clubs will talk about in the next couple of weeks.

“There’s a chance that anyone can be called back if you’re on loan and I understand that. If they want him back then he has to go back.

“I’m not too fussed about that type of thing as I’m very aware of that when you do take loans.”

“If we got some injuries and I had someone out on loan, you’d have to take them back so York are being fair, we’re being fair back, and the best thing in all situations is you keep communicating.”

Buckle does face a selection issue himself this weekend as to who partners Janos Kovacs in the centre of defence.

Alex Lacey is out with a broken nose, but Dean Beckwith is expected to recover from an identical injury, while Simon Ainge returned to form against Dorcester in the FA Trophy on Tuesday night.

Buckle continued: “We’ve got be careful with broken noses. They have to be careful heading the ball as they’ve both had headaches. They’ve not headed the ball this week, so I’ll have a look at it.

“Alex Lacey will probably miss out, but I hope Beckwith will be okay and then I’ll have a decision who partners Kovacs, whether it’s going to be Ainge or Beckwith.

“I thought Ainge came back to his normal standards on Tuesday night. He was dominant in the air and a lot calmer in his challenges.

“They’re both in good form, so whoever gets the shirt, I’m confident they can put in a good performance.”

Winger James Dance started his first game for over 10 months in midweek and Buckle, who rejected the chance to send him out on loan recently, belives the former Crawley man can push on now.

He added: “Dance has looked really good in training again. I’m always mindful that he might be feeling it or be a little bit stiff or sore, but Dancey is such an enthusiastic boy even if he’s feeling stiff or sore, he doesn’t show it.

“I think he’s going to play a major role this season because the one thing he can do is deliver the ball.

“The way we’ve been playing of late and our system, we’ve got a lot of balls into the box, so James will only add to that.

“It’s been such a stopstart season for us in terms of injures as we’ve struggled to keep the same team a lot of time.

“Hopefully now we can have a run where we don’t pick up injuries, if we can keep everyone fit and healthy, we’ll have a strong team and strong bench.”

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