Brady's praise for 'exceptional' McWilliams - but Sowerby and Dyche face time out

Shaun McWilliams was hailed as ‘exceptional’ by Jon Brady after his first start of the season against Barnsley on Saturday.

The 25-year-old midfielder was sidelined by an Achilles injury for the opening month of the campaign but he’s been eased back in and got through 76 minutes at the weekend.

"Shaun had his first league start and I thought he was exceptional,” said Brady. “We had to take him off before he broke and it was good to get (Ben) Foxy on for 15, 20 minutes.

"(Jack) Sowerby's injured at the moment and we don't have the resources that Barnsley do. I only have one sub to put on midfield and I've only got one striker to put on but we pushed and pushed and the players are giving everything.

"We had to look after Shaun because if he played anymore, he would have been in the red zone and we don’t need that, especially with Jack and Will (Hondermarck) currently out. We’re short in midfield at the moment. It was a brilliant performance from Shaun but we need to make sure we protect individuals along the way.”

On Sowerby, Brady said: “It’s just an irritation on his leg that we need to protect. We’re hoping he’s not going to be out for too long.”

There’s disappointing news for young defender Max Dyche, who appears to have suffered a potentially significant injury whilst on loan with Aldershot.

"Unfortunately I think he’ll be out for a little while,” revealed Brady. “It is what it is. We took the opportunity to get him some games but he’s taken a knock and he’ll be out for the foreseeable future.”