Ryan Wintle has suffered a slight set-back in his quest to return from his injury well ahead of schedule.

The Crewe midfielder has successfully been back out on the grass after overcoming his fractured tibia, but he has complained of some soreness after stepping up his rehab and the club will remain being cautious with him.

Wintle has not featured for the first-team since suffering the injury at home to Carlisle United back in September. The former Alsager Town youngster has worked incredibly hard to get back ahead of schedule but manager David Artell says he wants him to be 100% right before he considers him for a recall.

Artell told crewealex.net: “Ryan has been back out on the grass and that has been very encouraging. He has worked his socks off to get back.

“He had a bit of soreness last week, so we were cautious with him. We will wrap him in kids’ gloves and make sure he is right. He is chomping at the bit to play and we have to be careful with him.

“He may need some game time before we consider him for the first team. We have missed him but we won’t rush him back unnecessarily because we want him for the remainder of the season.”