JAKE Reeves is poised to see his first City action for nearly two years at Valley Parade tonight.
Gary Bowyer warned fans not to get carried away with the midfielder’s appearance on the bench against Shrewsbury – his first in the squad since January 2018.
But Reeves is likely to play some part in the Leasing.com Trophy group clash with Rochdale this evening.
Bowyer admitted the midfielder, who last played 22 months ago in Stuart McCall’s final home game as City boss, “was jumping up and down desperate to get on” at the weekend.
“He’s worked hard and he’s been unbelievable since I’ve been here,” said Bowyer.
“He’s in charge of the next step, along with the medical team, to push forward again.
“He played in a behind closed doors game last Tuesday for 45 minutes and he played very well.
“But that was his first game in 20 months so I’m not going to get extra pressure on him. We have to go step by step.
“Because of the bodies (injuries), it was a little reward for him (to be on the bench) for what he’s been through and how he’s gone about things over the last couple of months.
“But I’m saying it now to everybody, do not get carried away with it or anything like that.
“He was jumping up and down desperate to get on and I’m delighted, because that enthusiasm and passion that he has is exactly what we’re about and exactly what we want in our squad.”
City continue to monitor James Vaughan after the skipper was taken off early as a precaution with an ankle problem.
He has not featured in the previous two Trophy games and is not expected to be involved.
Shay McCartan is also unlikely to be included as he continues to recover from a slight knee injury.
But Bowyer is otherwise set to name a strong team through necessity for a tie that City must win by three clear goals to progress to the knock-out stages.
“I don’t really have a great deal of options in terms of what’s available to us to be perfectly honest,” he added.
“We’ve got a group stage of the Leasing.Com Trophy. In my opinion, the sooner it goes straight to knock-out, the better it is for the fixture list.
“The EFL say we’ve got to put rearranged fixtures in and we’ve got to put a couple of extra group games in. There’s no need in my opinion if you’re asking me as a manager.”
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