Frustration for Tisdale after losing two of pre-season's surprises

Pawlett suffered a blow after just 40 seconds at Boundary Park when a tackle injured his ankle, while McGrandles required hospital treatment for fractures to his eye socket in stoppage time.

While the injuries are a natural source of frustration for manager Paul Tisdale, he said it was increasingly annoying after he was 'pleasantly surprised' by the performances of the pair during pre-season.

"When I arrived, there were a lot of people who have an opinion, and you have to be careful not to take it all because you want to form your own opinions. Conor and Peter I have been really pleasantly surprised with. They've come to life and were both highlights in pre-season but for both of them to get injured in the first game is awfully unlucky for them, but also disappointing for me.

"Peter will be out for a reasonable amount of time, he has a considerable ankle injury. Conor is black and blue, he has had multiple fractures on his eye socket and we have to watch him very carefully."

Another man Tisdale is keen to see more of is striker Osman Sow. The Swede hasn't kicked a ball in pre-season training, and is being nursed back to health gradually.

Tisdale admitted he hasn't seen anything of Sow yet other than videos, but hopes to get his first glimpses of him sooner rather than later/

He said: "I've watched a lot of videos of him, but I'm not actually seen him kick a ball. But in term of his physical rehab, he's making so much progress. He's out running now. But there's a big difference between putting your boots back on and training with the team and being match fit, robust and not getting injured again.

"He will be one of those players who, once he's back training, will have hopes to get back playing but we have to be sure not to rush that."

Tisdale also offered an update on the fitness of Baily Cargill and Mathieu Baudry, and hinted both will play major roles in his side this season.

The manager added: "Baily is training at the moment. He missed training with us, he was training alone but he hasn't played the games, so he needs a game or two. He's a very accomplished player and he';s ready to play. Matty had an injury during pre-season and he's about a week away.

"Generally, both players will have a big impact in the way we play and taking our team into a level of performance that allows us to have the ball and be good with possession. They won't trouble the team sheets too soon but they will in time."