Paul Carden will miss Saturday's FA Cup second round tie at home to York through suspension, but he has praised the quality of the young players coming through the youth system.
With Carden and midfield partner Jai Reason both one caution away from an automatic one-match ban it was highly unfortunate that both should be booked in the first half of last night's match, triggering a ban for Saturday's cup game.
Carden and Reason have been ever-present in the middle so far this season but United captain and player-assistant manager Carden is thinking positively and believes the situation will provide an opportunity for Sam Ives to shine on his first senior start.
"It gives chances for some of the other lads to shine. Sam Ives will fill one spot but it's up to myself and Martin to make the decision as to how we juggle things for the other slot," he said.
"To be honest we are spoilt with the quality of the youngsters that have come through the CRC team. All credit has to go to Nolan (Keeley) and Jez (George) and their team of coaches for giving us a set of players who can step into positions in the first team almost unnoticeably.
"So it's nice that in the situation we find ourselves in for the cup match we find ourselves with so many options to choose from."
Ives has made fifteen appearances from the bench so far this season, scoring twice in the win against Forest Green Rovers.
The messageboard has been discussing the options to partner Ives in the centre, ranging from Brian Saah and Rory McAuley, who can play in midfield as well as defence, Ben Farrell who has yet to feature this season, Courtney Pitt who is often tipped by the other players for the 'Makelele role', or even striker Danny Crow who often drops deep to work in midfield. What do you think? Join the discussion here.
*The club e-mail addresses are not working at present due to circumstances beyond our control so please contact the club by telephone (01223 566500) with enquiries*
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