MANAGER Carl Heeley admits there was “no point” standing in the way of Joe Fitzpatrick joining AFC Telford United despite the prospect of facing him tomorrow (3pm).

The 19-year-old midfielder looks set to return to the Victoria Ground when Telford travel to Bromsgrove to tackle his former club in Vanarama National League North.

Since arriving at Worcester in the summer, Heeley often spoke highly of Fitzpatrick’s ability as he made eight appearances.

But, after receiving an approach from Telford, Heeley said he informed Fitzpatrick of their interest and let him make a decision over his future.

“Joe asked for my advice, so I said, ‘For you to make a decision, you need to speak to Telford and then weigh up all the pros and cons’,” Heeley said.

“After that, Joe felt he would get more opportunities to get regular minutes at Telford than he would at Worcester at this moment in time.

“I respected that, so we agreed to release his registration to allow him to sign for Telford immediately because there was no point in making him wait.”

Fitzpatrick came through Mansfield Town’s academy but he was still playing for their under 21s side while at City.

Heeley continued: “The other complication with Joe was he was under Mansfield’s education programme, so he could only ever be here on a non-contract basis.

“Therefore, the potential of selling Joe was zero, so we weighed that up as well.”

City’s boss is also confident Connor Gater, who is on a month’s loan at Stourbridge to aid his recovery from a toe injury, will step into Fitzpatrick’s shoes when he returns.

“Connor has been getting himself match fit at Stourbridge and that has been going well, so we have got him to come back,” Heeley added.

“He can certainly step into Joe’s shoes because he’s a vastly-experienced player and it’s an area we have got some options in so I am not overly concerned.”