Paul Barry admits he didn't know whether to laugh or cry when finding out former QPR man Bradley Simmonds will be out for up to six weeks.

The Hampton & Richmond Borough boss could be forgiven a smile, as it means he now won't lose the talented midfielder to the continent during the transfer window.

Indeed, Simmonds, who only re-joined the club in November following a spell playing in Iceland, had said he expected to be off in January, and was hoping for a return to Scandinavia.

However, Barry was also genuinely gutted – not only over losing his midfield maestro, but also over the fact that Simmonds was not able to secure a move back up the footballing ladder.

He said: “Bradley has fractured his ankle and will be out for a while. It is poor timing for the kid, and I am gutted for him. He wants to get back into full time football, and we knew we were only ever going to be a stop gap for him.

“There had been a few enquiries about him, but nothing concrete. He is a technically very gifted player, and although it took him a while to adjust to playing at this level, he has put in some very good performances for us.”

Simmonds was due to see a specialist this week and is expected to be out for up to six weeks, along with fellow midfielder Tom Hickey, who was this week due to have his broken nose re-set.

Without them, Hampton stretched their unbeaten run to eight games with a 2-0 win over Wingate & Finchley on Tuesday night, thanks to a 31 goal of the season from Charlie Moone, and a Stuart Lake strike.

This followed an impressive comeback on Saturday, when a brace from Moone, including an equaliser deep into stoppage time, saw Hampton recover from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at title chasing Dulwich Hamlet.

However, with his side still 13 points off the top five, Barry, whose side visit another title hopeful in the shape of Maidstone United tomorrow, remains cautious over any talks of the play-offs.

He added: “We've got a lot of work to do before we can talk about that. We have to continue our run and hope the teams above us drop points. All we can do is win as many games as we can and see what happens. But there is a great togetherness in the squad now, which was evident in coming bac from 2-0 down at a place like Dulwich.”

Following the trip to Maidstone, Hampton host Met Police on Tuesday night.