Zac Williams will miss the start of next season due to his ankle injury - but Alex Morris says that the youngster will use the rehabilitation time to improve his physicality.

Williams, 18, visited a London specialist yesterday and thankfully the talented defender does not need an operation on the injury he sustained against Ipswich in the penultimate game of the season.

Williams made 20 appearances in the last campaign to deservedly win the club’s prestigious ‘Break Through Player of the Year’ award.

Alex informed the club’s official website: “I spoke to Zac yesterday after he had visited the specialist in London and the good news is that he doesn’t need an operation.

“We will need time to recover though and that will rule him out of pre-season. He will be expected to be out for at least three months, but that is just a forecast at the moment.

“He will need a mini-pre-season to catch up when he is back in training and we certainly won’t be looking to rush him back. The welfare of players is paramount and we won’t be taking risk with him or anyone else.

“We don’t want anyone to come back too quickly and break down again. That doesn’t benefit anyone but we know how good Zac is and his ability to play in various positions. He is still young and we forget how young he is.

“Obviously he will be a really important player for us and one we have high hopes for.

“Being injured will give him that time to develop physically. He will become more robust and his body will be better to cope with the strains and stresses of a long season. He has to see the positives from it and the next two to three months will allow him to become stronger.”