Fleetwood defender Brad Halliday likely to miss rest of season admits Simon Grayson

The 26-year-old joined the club over the summer from Doncaster Rovers only to suffer a disrupted pre-season after suffering from Covid-19.

However, he worked his way into the side and featured in their games against Portsmouth, Stoke City and Lincoln City before picking up his injury.

Grayson is hoping he will be able to bring in a replacement and has had word from owner Andy Pilley that there are funds at his disposal.

“I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get anybody in because Andy has indicated resources are available,” Grayson said. “We are working on a couple of things.

“We had sad news over the weekend that Brad Halliday has done his ACL in the last few minutes at Sheffield Wednesday, so that will probably be him out for the rest of the season.

“I’m so sorry for the kid and I’ve been really excited about working with him.

“The injury is not easy to accept but he has good people around him.

“He’ll get the operation done and hopefully come back stronger.”

On a more positive note, Town earned their first points of the season by beating Cheltenham Town 3-2 on Saturday.

Having trailed early on, Town levelled through Tom Clarke before taking the lead with only 10 minutes left thanks to Darnell Johnson.

Though the visitors levelled late on, there was enough time for Shayden Morris to find a winning goal.

Town had lost all four of their previous matches in league and cup, so Grayson was proud of the way his players refused to let their heads drop.

He said: “That was the big thing for us. I genuinely believe we have a really good, honest bunch of players, who stick together through thick and thin.

“Everything we asked of them in pre-season, they have tried to do and have taken on board, so when you concede after losing the first four it can be quite easy to put your head down and think, ‘Here we go again, another day at the office where it’s not going to work for you.’

“We showed great character and even more character when we go 2-2 with five minutes to go – when we could previously have put the game to bed.

“That’s been a massive part of the result.”

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