Talented former Rangers starlet Matthew Shiels is still yet to make his Hamilton Academical debut due to injury problems.
Shiels spent over a decade in the Rangers Academy and has been capped at youth international level by Scotland.
He had loan spells at Edinburgh City, Dumbarton and Clyde, but with no route through to the Rangers senior team materialising and his contract running down, he signed a pre-contract agreement with Hamilton in May.
The 21-year-old was excited about the new challenge and the prospect of regular first-team football.
Yet, things haven’t gone according to plan so far.
An ankle injury and bone bruising have prevented him from making his debut and although he’s now back in training, Accies boss Stuart Taylor says a first outing is still some way off.
“Matthew has come through another week [of training], which is good,” he said [Daily Record]. “But he has been out for a long time.”
“I think he’s been out just short of a year, he’s not played any game or anything like that, so we need to get a good amount of friendly games under his belt before we can look at getting him in the first team.
“That’s something we will try and make happen for him.”
Ex-Rangers starlet still awaiting debut after injury woes
It’s no doubt been a frustrating few months for Shiels, watching on from the sidelines as Accies make a slow start to their Championship campaign.
The talented left-back is clearly making progress, though, and perhaps he’ll receive opportunities to show what he can do before the turn of the year.
Shiels showed promise during his time at Auchenhowie but the rise of James Maxwell, who’s currently out on loan at Ayr United, pushed him down the pecking order and made his exit at the end of last season somewhat inevitable.
In other news, a club are reportedly preparing a multi-million pound bid for a current Rangers star.
