ADEN Flint will likely have to bide his time before he can force his way back into the first team, after Paolo Di Canio suggested that he will keep the faith with Alan McCormack and Joe Devera in the centre of defence against Hereford tomorrow.

Former Alfreton Town skipper Flint was Town’s stand-out player throughout August but a hip injury at the start of last month sidelined him for the home clash with Southend.

It was against the Shrimpers that Di Canio found a new defensive option in McCormack and the Irishman appears to have formed an impressive partnership with Devera.

The two combined to limit Exeter City to few real chances on Tuesday, with only an audacious chipped goal from Daniel Nardiello able to breach the Town defence.

And that means Flint may have to make do with a place on the bench, but Di Canio has urged him to take his chance when it arrives.

“Aden Flint will be a very important player for the rest of the season I am sure,” said Di Canio.

“He had some problem and was out and during that time the team did very well. McCormack came into the back four and on Tuesday he did well alongside Joe Devera, who for me has been one of the best players in the last few games.

“Obviously Flint will be involved in the future, that may well be tomorrow and I have still to decide, but he has to keep working and wait for his time.

“He is in my plans and he knows this because I speak with him every day, he has to keep going because when he does have chance he has to take it.

“He has trained well in the last few days and we will see if he can have a part but at the moment I have players who have done very well and we have not conceded any goals from set pieces since the Rotherham game, which is very important.”

Defending may not be Town’s greatest concern tomorrow, however, with Hereford having managed to find the back of the net on just three occasions away from home.

Instead, it will be Town’s strikers who will be tested to the limit against a Bulls defence that has been particularly miserly on the road – conceding just five goals.

Hereford have collected just six points all season but Di Canio is conscious that failure to break them down early on could result in a frustrating afternoon for Town.

“When you think about Hereford you could think it will be an easy game but I think that it will be a very tough game,” he continued.

“They have -17 goal difference and they scored only four goals – two at home and two – away. They have conceded 21 goals but the strange thing is that they have let in 16 at home and just five away.

“Away from home they play very deep, try to stay in front of the ball and defend for their life before counter-attacking. For this I told my players to be careful because it will be very tough.

“A team who tries to stay up in the league will do everything to try and win a game at home, but away they are happy to get even a point.

“I want another step forward and another leap in quality.

“There might not be a lot of space to play our football but we must find a way to do this and take the chance when we have one to score.”

Jake Jervis could well be in line for his home debut after scoring twice at Exeter while the performances of Lander Gabilondo, Alessandro Cibocchi and Ahmed Abdulla has certainly given Di Canio something of a selection headache – albeit a welcome one.

“I am feeling positive for the future, especially after I changed a few players and they had not been involved for a while and so did not have that understanding with each other straightaway but they all did very well in my opinion.

“It is good for a manager when you change two or three players and they show their quality in a game, so I am very happy for this.

“If some players do not play well or do not commit 100 per cent then it easy for me to decide who I will take out, but at the moment I am happy because I have some positive doubt for Saturday.”

Phil Smith is out with a groin injury meaning Mattia Lanzano will retain his place on goal but otherwise Di Canio has no new injury concerns.