Gilbey can help fire Dons towards promotion - Tisdale

The 23-year-old has been out of action since early February, and had not been expected back until Christmas. But after a string of friendly run-outs, Tisdale confirmed the former Wigan man could be in contention for the season opener against Oldham on Saturday.

With Gilbey one of the key men in midfield until his injury last season, Tisdale is expecting big things from him.

"He will be, if he's available, a considerable asset to us," said the manager. "We're harbouring ambitions of promotion and he's the sort of player who will get us close to that.

"I don't want to tempt fate, but Alex Gilbey has come through much quicker than we thought. I'm still not going to get too carried away until he has put a significant run of games together, but there's no reason why he shouldn't be in contention for Saturday.

"Speculating about hte future is a dangerous thing, but I'm pretty happy wioth what he's done so far."