Michael Flynn can be the “perfect” pick-me-up to drag City out of their rut at Crewe tonight.

The talisman midfielder is improving fast and Peter Taylor believes he can play a significant part at Gresty Road.

Saturday’s late postponement gave the Welshman a couple of extra days to continue building up after his long absence.

Simon Ramsden is also close to a return, although he will not feature this evening. But Taylor sees Flynn’s presence as a real fillip in City’s bid to end a three-game losing slump.

He said: “Flynny is looking very good. We had a good, hard (training) session on Sunday with a lot of football and both him and Rams said they felt their best so far.

“Rams won’t be involved against Crewe but Michael will. He’s miles better and not getting any pain at all.

“He was feeling nowhere near as good when he played against Hartlepool in the JPT as he does now.

“He’s not 90-minute ready but definitely not that far away. He’s definitely got an hour in him – we’ll have a look at the situation.

“We need a little bit more experience available for us so Michael Flynn is perfect for that situation.”

Whether or not Taylor is willing to gamble on him from the start, Flynn’s availability is well timed given Tommy Doherty’s ankle problems. The playmaker faces his own stretch on the sidelines when he finally goes under the knife later this week.

Taylor said: “He’s going to have the operation on Thursday, it’s just whether we take the chance to get one more game out of him first. But from Thursday onwards, he will be out for six to eight weeks.”

Taylor planned to take a chance with Doherty in the aborted Burton game. David Syers was also willing to play through the pain after taking a whack against Aldershot.

The City boss added: “David was a doubt so at least he’s got another three days’ rest. He would have played, would have started the game and, knowing David, would have got on with it really well. But it just means that he’s going to feel better for playing tonight.

“He’s got a very steady head on him and has played extremely well.

“But maybe he’s getting a bit tired now where all of a sudden he’s trying to play and train a lot more than he ever has. That will even itself out though and he will be fine.”

Syers, City’s top scorer with seven goals, has attracted plenty of attention in his breakthrough first season in the pro game. But Taylor has reassured fans that the Bantams have first refusal on keeping him in the summer.

He said: “We’ve got an option on David Syers anyway, so we’re okay on that. We’re safe.”

Jon McLaughlin will remain in goal against the division’s leading marksmen after impressing the manager on his comeback in the Aldershot loss.

Lenny Pidgeley had to drop out after complaining of a severe headache and will be out of action again while City try to get to the root cause of his problem.

Taylor said: “Lenny’s still not feeling 100 per cent right so we’re just checking his blood. We thought it was a migraine but now we’re not so sure. Our doctor’s just having a look at him.

“But I have never once felt that Jon is not a good goalkeeper.

“It’s up to him now to regain the confidence that he had when he first got in the team last year.”