STEVE Guinan believes it could be the end of the month before he is back in a Hereford United shirt.

The 32-year-old striker has been out with a calf injury since New Year's Day and is once again on the sidelines for tomorrow's visit of Dagenham and Redbridge.

He has already missed eight matches and is likely to be ruled out of the upcoming matches against Rochdale, Chesterfield, Wrexham and Shrewsbury.

"I still think it's going to be two to three weeks," Guinan said. "I went for an MRI scan on Saturday and it's indicated there's a tear in the calf muscle. I have been pushing myself and I didn't know there was a tear so I have had to take a step back.

"It's extremely frustrating. I don't think it's good for any footballer to be injured. Whet-her the team are doing well or not. It's frustrating but it's part and parcel of being a footballer."

Hereford won 1-0 at Roth-erham last weekend as they bounced back from three consecutive defeats and Guinan wants his team-mates to build on that.

He said: "We are doing OK but we have slipped in our standards and it would be nice to get back in the automatic promotion spaces.

"It's very tight and it's always going to be a tough end of the season so we have got to show our mettle."