AFC Telford want Paul McCone to go on loan

The former Hednesford and Stourbridge centre back is said to be a month away from contention after suffering a ruptured cruciate ligament.

The injury has kept him out since last November and restricted him to just eight appearances for the Bucks.

McCone is well on his way to a full recovery and has been a regular in the warm-ups of recent games, also kicking balls again.

But boss Rob Smith wants the one-time Wolves academy graduate and Northern Ireland youth international to get some game time at a lower level before letting him loose on National League North again.

"He's doing great, his rehab is going really well, he's looking good and I'd love to get him back involved, but he's at least another month away from playing," said Smith.

"I want to send him out for a couple of games. He's signed as a non-contract player so he can go and get as many games as he needs.

"He won't want to do that though – he'll say 'when I'm fit, I want to play here'.

"But he knows I want to get him at least a couple of games at a lower level to get back into it because he's been out for a long time.

"He's kicking balls now - he's doing all his work properly as he always does and he's working hard at it."

Having played alongside him for several years at Hednesford, fellow centre back Ben Bailey knows McCone as well as anyone and reckons McCone will only improve Telford's team.

"I had a good partnership with 'Macca' at Hednesford - we knew each other inside out," said Bailey.

"He's a very good player who can read the game brilliantly.

"He's good in the air and with his feet because he can play as well, so he's definitely an asset to the team."

Bailey made his full Telford debut in Monday's 1-1 draw at Nuneaton but slotted alongside captain Luca Havern impressively.

McCone's availability will make it four centre backs to choose from with Dan Preston.

Bailey is relishing the prospect of added competition however.

"It's more competition and I'm happy about that," he said.

"I had my chance on Monday and feel I took it so I hope I can stay in the team now."