Skipper Danny Cullip was missing as Lewes attempted to end their long losing run away to Forest Green today.

Cullip was a late withdrawal due to illness which meant the Rooks were without three first choice defenders.

Left-back Sam Fisk was also missing due to an ankle injury while Chris Breach was serving a one-match ban. In addition, winger David Wheeler was also out having played for English Schools under-18s against Northern Ireland in the Centenary Cup last night.

New signings Josh Jirbandey and Luke Rooney were handed starts after joining on work experience from Peterborough and Gillingham respectively.

Youth team player Ryan Storrie made his full debut on the right side of a five-man midfield, Grant Hall switched to right-back and Anthony Barness went to centre-back.

Barness was one of only two players over 22 in a 16-man squad, which included six teenagers in the starting line-up and ten in total.

Louis Bell, who left the club in December, was back on the bench along with replacement goalkeeper Ollie Barton who has dual-signed from Worthing.

Lewes were chasing their only double of the season, having beaten Forest Green 3-2 at home in October, but their small bunch of travelling fans would settle for a point to end their 17-match losing sequence.

Lewes: Rikki Banks; Grant Hall, Anthony Barness, Josh Jirbandey, Andy Wilkinson; Ryan Storrie, Michael Standing, Joe Keehan, Luke Rooney, Stefan Cox; Tim Rivers. Subs not used: Ross Sutton, Fred Foreman, Ben Osborn, Louis Bell, Ollie Barton.

Forest Green: Terry Burton; Darren Jones, Lee Ayres, Mark Preece, Paul Stonehouse; Kaid Mohamed, Alex Lawless, Lee Fowler, Conal Platt, David Brown; Andy Mangan. Subs: Adrian Rigoglioso, Jonathan Smith, Ben Ashford, Paul Lloyd, Ryan Robinson.

Referee: Wayne Barrett (Worcestershire).

Now go to our 'live reports' section for goal updates, a half-time report and full-time score. A full-time report will appear in this section soon after the end of the game.