Justin Harris has handed Lewes a huge boost ahead of Sunday's FA Cup first round clash with Stoke City.

The 25-year-old hardman midfielder looked set to be ruled out after injuring a hand in an accident at work earlier in the week.

However, Harris has had a special cast fitted to his hand which should allow him to play in the biggest game in the club's 116-year history.

Manager Jimmy Quinn, who has delayed his team selection in order to give Harris time to prove his fitness, said: "He has seen a specialist who has prepared a cast for him to wear. I would say he now has a better than 50-50 chance of playing."

The man who has come to Harris's rescue is Dave Morris, a specialist at the Royal Sussex County Hospital who also helped Albion's Bobby Zamora out of a similar predicament last season.

Morris has designed a special cast which can be worn by Harris, who had an operation on Tuesday to repair the tendons in his hand. The design will replace an obtrusive plaster-cast which would have been deemed too dangerous.

The only concerns now surrounding his inclusion are whether Harris himself is prepared to risk further injury to the hand and if referee Joe Ross will allow him to play with the new cast.

Quinn said: "As long as Justin isn't in pain I think he will make it. It will be a boost for everybody."

There was further good news for Quinn when Joe Clark was also declared fit to play.

Clark, who may have to be content with a place on the bench, looked set to miss out after suffering a groin injury in Tuesday's 1-0 league win over Great Wakering. However, he came through a training session without a problem and will take his place in an 18-man travelling party.

Lewes, who travelled to Stoke this morning for an overnight hotel stay, got a taste of Cup fever on Thursday when AXA brought the FA Cup to their training session at the Dripping Pan.

The match kicks off at 3pm on Sunday and more than 1,000 fans are expected to travel from Sussex to support the Rooks.

Lewes squad: Standen, Thomsett, Hack, Cable, McCallum, A.Johnson, Beeston, Venables, Harris, Stokes, Cameron Johnson, Dicker, Clark, Dowling, Shepherd, Francis, Newman, Byerley.