SOME have questioned whether young defender Reece Staunton's chance to play regular football in the EFL has passed him by, but he will not find a bigger backer than his Bradford (Park Avenue) manager Mark Bower.

As a teenager at Bradford City two years ago, he found himself starting in a back three under Stuart McCall, and was a bright spot in a difficult start to the 2020/21 League Two campaign.

But a horrible hamstring injury against Leyton Orient that November ruined his fledgling career at Valley Parade and he only made one league appearance for the Bantams thereafter.

He has since joined City's National League North neighbours Avenue permanently, becoming a key defender for them.

And he was in superb form last weekend, part of a youthful back three in a depleted side that earned an excellent goalless draw at Alfreton Town.

Asked if the 20-year-old was capable of making it back into the Football League, Bower insisted: "He should get back to at least League Two level.

"He just needs a run of regular games, like he's getting here, and to get those non-league bumps and bruises, which will toughen him up further.

"He's a quality player, with a great left foot and a top attitude.

"He's taken a risk coming here, because he could have stayed comfortable on the bench or around the first-team squad at City, but he wanted to get games here and have an impact.

"He should be back in the Football League one day but we hope to keep him here for a little while yet."

Staunton is set to play a crucial role for Avenue once again this weekend, as they host West Yorkshire rivals Farsley Celtic in the FA Trophy second round.

Bower is glad of that after last season's bad luck saying: "We had big cup games at home against Marine and Halifax in 2021, but they were called off due to snow and fog respectively.

"They both had to get rearranged for midweek and that's just not the same in terms of income for the club.

"But this weekend is an attractive derby game for the fans, so there should be a decent atmosphere down at Horsfall.

"It'll be tough, as they have some good players, but Farsley are facing a similar predicament to us last weekend, where they've got a thinner squad than most in our division, and they currently have a few lads out injured."

Rain is one form of inclement weather that should not cause any problems at Horsfall, due to the artificial surface there.

Tomorrow's cup game between the divisional and local rivals would have been a real slog if it were on grass, and Bower said: "You look at the forecast and the game could well have been off if we still played on grass at Horsfall.

"With constant rain on a grass surface, you're thinking about where you can train, where you can play, but unless there's snow or fog, that's not a problem on the artificial turf.

"It'll be a consistent surface this weekend too, whereas if the tie had gone ahead on grass, the pitch would have cut up badly during the game.

"It's good for us as a club not to have to worry about re-arranging training and games due to wet weather like this."

Young defender Lucas Odunston came off injured at Alfreton, but Bower expects him to return for the Farsley clash, while he hopes all of Luca Havern, Simon Richman, Mitch Lund and Harrison Hopper will be back tomorrow too.