CLAYTON Donaldson will not be rushed back in by City to fill the gap left by James Vaughan’s latest suspension.

The skipper misses the next two games at Colchester and Mansfield after picking up his 10th booking in Saturday’s draw with Scunthorpe.

But Gary Bowyer has no intention of throwing Donaldson back into the fray in Essex tomorrow night.

The target man, who has not been involved since October because of a toe injury, was doing fitness runs before the weekend game.

But Bowyer said: “It would be too early for Clayton. The weather didn’t help him on Friday in terms of the pitches being waterlogged so we were on the ‘astro’.

“It was the same with a couple of them and put them back a day because we couldn’t get on the grass.”

Aramide Oteh missed out at Valley Parade because of a knock but the City boss reckons he should be ready to step up in Vaughan’s absence.

“Remy took a bang last week against Crawley and as a result he had to wait a couple of days before he was allowed to join in with contact again,” he added.

“He didn’t train with us last week but I think he’ll be fine because he’s done the number of days for the protocol.”

Vaughan’s absence will be a blow as City look to bounce back from the frustration of letting a two-goal lead slip against Scunthorpe.

Hope Akpan gave City the lead in his first start for two months before Vaughan, who was yellow-carded for a foul, scored the second.

That took his tally to 11 after the EFL awarded him the goal at Crawley that had originally been credited to Oteh.

But City conceded twice for the second game running and there were boos around Valley Parade at the final whistle.

On Vaughan, Bowyer admitted: “It’s how he plays the game. Of course, we don’t want him to be suspended but you take that element away and he’d be half the player.”

Bowyer was frustrated by the manner of both Scunthorpe goals but absolved new keeper Luke McGee of any blame.

The on-loan Portsmouth keeper impressed on his debut in place of the injured Richard O’Donnell and pulled off two superb saves from former Bantam George Miller.

Bowyer said: “I have to give him and the lads enormous credit because he’s settled in so quickly. You would think he’s been here longer than a few days.

“That’s his upbringing. He spent a hell of a long time at Spurs with the staff and people there that worked with him.

“Obviously to then go and have the number of games he’s had in League One already just shows you what I was after.

“It was important to bring somebody in with that mindset and experience to bring a state of calm.

"It shows what a good goalkeeper he is that while he’s not played in the league for as long as he has, he can still produce a performance like that.

"I always look at the positives and from going 2-0 up back to 2-2, I’ve seen teams rock and then they concede a third.

“But the lads responded and went again and tried to get the winner. We’ve got to dust ourselves down."