Manager Keith Hill has confirmed that young midfielder Dan Adshead is likely play a part in Dale’s Checkatrade Trophy group stage tie against Bury on Tuesday evening.
Adshead, who turned 16-years-old earlier this month, featured for the first team in pre-season and also made the week-long trip to Tenerife in July.
Speaking after Saturday’s game at MK Dons, Hill commented: “The Bury game is an important game us.
“There won’t be too many changes because we’ve not got that many available.
“Dan Adshead will be heavily involved in the match, but Jim McNulty will miss the game through suspension. He got sent off against Chesterfield last year and it has carried over into this season.
“Niall Canavan and Kitch [Mark Kitching] got injured during the week, so we’re back to square one with respect to the injuries.”
Ashead, who started back school earlier this month, will sit his GCSEs next year, and Hill, speaking at the time of the 16-year-old’s return to school, said his education is very important.
“We’ve got to treat him as a special case and we’ve got to try and train him as much as we possibly can in the right manner, and when and where applicable, because his studies are very important.
“We will manage him after school, because we do have to individualise such a talented player, and we have to pay special attention to developing him.
“But it won’t just be him from within that group, because that age group is particularly good, but he’s the one that’s closest to the first team at this moment in time.”