PAUL Hurst has vowed that Grimsby Town will stand by young keeper Callum Bastock as he recovers from his injury set-back.
The promising 17-year-old has suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury – as well an associated fracture – and is set for a lengthy lay-off.
Bastock, son of former Boston United legend Paul, is set for an operation next month and Hurst insists the club will support him fully during his rehabilitation.
He said: "Callum did his cruciate and there's also a bit of an associated fracture in there as well so it's a bad injury and he's going to be out for a long time.
"He's due to have his operation on December 1, and we wish him well with that – the club will be here for him and stand by him during his recovery.
"I understand that he'll continue his education while he's with us and the club are looking into the possibility of suspending his time with us, so he'll still be given an opportunity to come back and train with us after his recovery.
"I certainly want that to happen because he had been doing extremely well – we've all been impressed with him."
Before his injury, Bastock was regularly involved in first-team training and impressed the boss and the senior professionals with his performances.
Hurst added: "The biggest compliment I can pay him was when we were in the training games, he never let himself down.
"I've certainly been at clubs in the past where, when the Youth team stopper comes over to join in, some of the senior players say 'Oh, we've got the young goalie in'.
"But that was never once said here – he did extremely well whenever he was with us.
"He's still very young but he was maturing as a keeper and it's a real shame for the lad, but the club will be here for him.
"Hopefully, once he's recovered, he'll be able to come back and try and earn that professional contract."
