Macauley Southam-Hales: Stockport County right-back gets all-clear after hoardings collision

Stockport County right-back Macauley Southam-Hales has been given the all-clear by specialists after colliding with an advertising hoarding in Wednesday's FA Cup replay win over Charlton Athletic.

The 26-year-old appeared to be nudged by Charlton's George Dobson and was taken to hospital following the incident, where CT scans showed no permanent damage despite severe head swelling.

Southam-Hales was "very lucky" not to be seriously injured in the incident, Hatters boss Dave Challinor said in his post-match interview.

It comes a month after Bath City's Alex Fletcher had brain surgery after also colliding with a hoarding.

"He's got a whopper of an egg on the back of his head," Challinor told BBC Radio Manchester.

"In the grand scheme of things, if he has a clear bill of health, he's very, very lucky. If you look at it from a football perspective, as much as people might not mean certain things or meaning to hurt anybody, if that's not endangering an opponent, I'm not sure what is.

"Regardless, it should be a sending off. He's probably an inch away from potentially a fractured skull."

Although he is currently wearing a neck brace, Southam-Hales could yet be fit to play at Rochdale on Saturday.

Fletcher spent nearly a month in hospital, and had been in intensive care, with his injury forcing Bath's National League South game against Dulwich Hamlet to be abandoned.