Positive James Maxwell update provided as Doncaster Rovers shift focus to EFL Trophy opener

The Scot has been absent since fracturing his metatarsal on the opening weekend of the season against Accrington Stanley. Maxwell has since undergone surgery and is now undergoing his rehab. The medical team at Cantley Park, headed by Dave Rennie, have devised a bespoke recovery plan for the former Rangers full-back.

Byrne, speaking to the club's website ahead of the visit of Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night in the EFL Trophy group stage opener, delivered a brief update on Maxwell saying he is in good spirits as he looks to return as soon as possible to the fold.

"He's been back in the building the last two or three days, just settling back in," Byrne said.

"It's been difficult for him and so the medical team felt it was right for him to spend a little bit of time away and get himself right because mentally he's going to have to push really hard because I believe the recovery process will accelerate the more he gets on the grass.

"James is looking forward to it. He had a terrific off-season, came back in really good nick and I think that bodes well for potentially how quick he can recover from this."

Rovers host a Terriers side smarting from their first league setback of the campaign, after a derby loss at Rotherham last Saturday.

Issuing a team news update, Byrne suggested Rovers could go strong for the tie against Michael Duff’s side.

"We've not picked up anything (injury-wise) from the weekend's game so we'll be going with more or less the same squad as what we had in the previous game," he said. "We'll be looking to be competitive.

"It's not a case of the manager just going around sharing minutes. It's minutes that are justified when players come on and impact games. That's the result of the healthy competition we have in the squad and we want to keep driving that.

"We want to progress as far as we can, because it creates good momentum. It's one we'll be striving to do well in."

Tuesday night's game has the earlier kick-off time of 7pm.