Jones admits he can't hold Senior back any longer

The 19-year-old who joined from Huddersfield Town in August has been one of the stand out players in the club’s run to the Checkatrade Trophy quarter-finals this season with a number of sparking displays.

He showed further signs of that during last night's 4-0 demolition of League One Chesterfield, with an impressive attacking performance, but also remaining solid whenever the Spireites attacked too.

On whether he could now make his full league debut in Saturday's trip to Crewe Alexandra, Jones said: “He’s right there, he’s not close, he’s there, he’s in contention, week in week out.

“What we were going to do, we were going to put him in the away game up at Blackpool, but we felt for his league debut it was a tough place to go, especially the way they play, and who they had.

“So we played JJ (James Justin) there which proved a good decision in the end, but I don’t think we can hold him back much more.”

Meanwhile, young centre half Frankie Musonda gave a composed performance alongside Glen Rea in the heart of Town's back-line as he demonstrated his clear improvement throughout the competition too.

Jones continued: “He’s learning and he’s growing and he’s getting better, he was excellent tonight.

“He had a real tough time at times against Millwall (in the group stages), but he learned from that, and that’s what football’s about.

“We said that was a great night to be learning from and they have and he’s maturing nicely, so we’re pleased with that.

“It’s been a good competition for us with the strength of squad we have. We’ve been able to compete, so it’s been good and we’re enjoying it.

“It’s great to see people like Frankie Musonda, people like Jack Senior getting opportunities because now they’re closer to us, closer to getting opportunities in league action and being a better player and us being a better team.”