GARY Bowyer has hailed the leadership qualities of “new signing” Jake Reeves.

The midfielder aims to follow up last week’s comeback appearance with another in tomorrow night’s FA Cup first-round replay with Shrewsbury at Valley Parade.

Reeves put 22 months of injury torment behind him with a successful hour’s return in the Leasing.com Trophy.

READ MORE: Reeves grateful for club backing

His hopes of featuring against the League One side will hinge on not feeling any after-effects from his first involvement after such a lengthy time out.

Bowyer will not take any risks but has already seen the impact that having Reeves back has had on the rest of the squad.

He said: “It’s not just a footballer we’re getting out there but a leader as well – and there aren’t many knocking around in this day and age to the quality that you’ve seen from Jake.

“It is like having a new signing with us.

“Where can I go and get someone like that in the free market? There’s not many, if any at all.”

Reeves reported no problems after his impressive outing against Rochdale last week and Bowyer insists his judgement will be led by the player.

The City boss added: “Jake is in charge with this.

“He’s been through the mill in terms of the injury and the setbacks.

“But he’s really looking after himself with what’s needed in each step of his rehabilitation.

“He deserves an enormous amount of praise and credit for how he goes about it.

“If he recovers fine then we’ll build him up into this week and see where we’re at then.

“He deserves some luck for sure with how hard he’s worked to get himself in the condition that he’s in now.

“The players are buzzing for him. They love him as a lad.

“He’s a great character amongst them and everyone in the building has the utmost respect for him.”