Shrewsbury remaining patient as George Nurse makes ACL recovery progress

Nurse ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament for the second consecutive year in pre-season and has not played in a competitive fixture for Shrews since September 2022.

And the Town boss said the 24-year-old looks strong and that by watching him in training you would think that he is not that far from returning to action.

He said: “It is funny because you watch him out on the grass and he said it himself it is frustrating because you watch him and you would think he is not that far away. He looks so strong, his movements look good, I am no medical expert, I can only go and trust the people who are in there. But he does look a lot closer.

“But because of the injury that it is and the fact it is the second one he has had I think if we really pushed then there is an absolute outside chance that he could be back sooner.”

Mal Benning, who is playing at left-back in Nurse’s absence, has been in great form and he provided an assist for Town’s equaliser on Saturday at Pride Park so Town do have cover in that area of the pitch.

And despite Nurse looking in great shape, Hurst has revealed he will not jeopardise his career by rushing him back against medical advice, so he is not expecting to have Nurse available to use this season.

“I am not going to risk someone’s career just for a selfish point of view,” Hurst continued.

“If everything went absolutely fantastic and it was said to me ‘you can involve him if you want to’ again then we will look at that.

“But in truth, in my head, I am not expecting to have George back.

“If we did then that would be a bonus, but like I said, we will not be forcing the issue and risking another longer-term injury.”

Hurst’s team are next in action when they take on Wigan Athletic this weekend in Shropshire as Shaun Maloney’s side visit the Croud Meadow.