GARY Bowyer has welcomed Shay McCartan’s return to the City fold, insisting: “You can’t have enough creative types.”

The Irishman is back in full training with the squad but will not be rushed after missing out on pre-season through injury.

McCartan got a taste of action from the bench against Oldham a fortnight ago – and Bowyer now admits that he may have got a bit ahead of himself.

Bowyer sees a big role for McCartan in City’s season and that view has not changed with last week’s arrival of Callum Cooke and Jamie Devitt.

The Bantams chief said: “Callum Cooke is completely different, in my opinion, to a Jamie Devitt or a Shay McCartan.

“Those two are predominantly more a number 10 or a clever one that rolls in off the line into pockets. Cookey is more an attacking midfielder coming on from deep.

“You can’t have enough of those creative types.

“Over the course of the season, you’ll need them. Look at what’s happened to Shay at this moment in time, we’ve only had him for 20 minutes in five league games.

“There was a bit of soreness that has taken a little longer to settle down for him.

“But rather than push him and risk things long term, we decided to hold on and give him a bit longer with a conditioning programme that was more specific.”

McCartan’s brief run-out at Valley Parade in City’s opening win was his first for the club since returning from his Lincoln loan. But he was not in the squad for the last two games.

“That was his first taste of football because he didn’t have a pre-season,” added Bowyer.

“With the intensity and adrenaline that was pumping through him and the response of the crowd, it was just a case of he might have gone too hard too soon.

“We just had to make sure there were no pulls or snaps from a muscular point of view.”

Zeli Ismail, who has been limited to one pre-season outing because of a hamstring injury, has also been back in full training since Monday and featured in a behind-closed-doors game among the squad.

Bowyer said: “We’ve had to hold him back and do the same. We don’t want him to have a relapse.

“Both Shay and Zeli are explosive types of players and we had to make sure the conditioning was tailored specifically for them.”