Magloire was 'rocked' by serious knee injury but Brady backs him to return stronger than ever

Tyler Magloire was ‘rocked’ when he received news of the severity of his knee injury but manager Jon Brady says the defender has made good progress and is determined to come back as quickly as possible.

The 24-year-old centre-half was making his 19th appearance of an injury-disrupted campaign when he suffered serious damage to his knee following a heavy collision on the halfway line against Colchester United on February 25.

Magloire was immediately ruled out for the rest of the season and Brady has since confirmed he’s unlikely to play again until 2024. Should that be the case, he will face a whole year out of the game.

"Unfortunately Tyler won't be back until at least after Christmas,” confirmed Brady. “He took a hell of an injury to his knee and our best wishes have been with him all along.

"I'm in contact with him all the time and in the last few weeks of the season he started to come back in and work with the group again. He's been doing bits and pieces to strengthen his body.

"It was important for him to be back around the place, especially for his mental health. It rocked him to find out how serious the injury was, and it rocked all of us because he's such an integral part of our group.

"But he's got great character and great strength and he's got a lot of support from us. We will work with him get him back to his best and he knows he has our support and he can pick up the phone to us whenever he wants.”

The news may prompt Brady to bring in an extra defender this summer, although the priority is to ensure Magloire is able to get back to his best once fit.

"We'll obviously have one less centre-half but you've got to work with the player and make sure he's ready and right to come back,” Brady added. “I think we are very good at surmising the whole situation and there'll have to be a bit of flex.

"It'll be difficult for Tyler not to be involved but now he has a pathway and a timeline for when he can come back and I know with Tyler that he'll work hard and try and beat that timeline.

"We need to be sympathetic and we look forward to having him back fit and strong – but only when he's ready.”