ACCRINGTON Stanley hope forward Shay McCartan will make a full recovery after the forward was taken ill on the pitch in the closing stages if Saturday’s FA Cup giant-killing victory over Bradford City.

The Reds knocked their League One opponents out with a super 2-1 win but the sheen was taken off the result when McCartan left in the closing stages.

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The former Burnley man had only just entered the action as a second half substitute but was rushed to hospital after going down late on with breathing problems.

The Northern Ireland man was treated immediately on the pitch and, after spending time in hospital, has now been released.

The 22-year-old will now be monitored by Stanley’s medical team over the next few days and will undergo further tests.

But he tweeted: “Thanks for the all the messages, scary times but hopefully will be ok. Great win for the boys.”

Reds boss John Coleman admitted the incident had taken the gloss off the victory – provided by goals from Rommy Boco and Jordan Clark either side of Matt Kilgallon’s response for Bradford.

Speaking immediately after the game the Stanley boss, whose side will be in the hat for the second round draw tonight, said: “He was taken ill on the pitch and he was struggling to breathe. Luckily he was treated and the referee was astute enough to see there was a problem. He was dealt with as quickly as possible.

“All my thoughts are with him now and that is the first thing I am concerned about. First and foremost we hope he is ok.”

Coleman admitted he was delighted with the performance of his players, and the impact of Clark, who had been urged to score more goals in the build up to the game.

And the Reds chief admitted he was close to substituting the match-winner shortly before he struck the decisive goal.

Coleman added: “I was saying to the fourth official that we wanted to make a sub and that Jordan was coming off but he kept the board down and Jordan scored the winner.

“It was a great goal and a great finish and I think on the balance of play we deserved to win. I don’t think anyone could have had a more difficult place to come to so I would put our result up there with anyone who has had a win this weekend.”

Coleman added that he was pleased with the reaction his side showed after their 3-1 league loss to Newport last time out.

“We can never fault the work rate but you can sometimes question the wisdom in games and management in games but I thought we saw it out quite well,” said Coleman.

“We didn’t panic when we went 1-1 and we deserved to take the lead. We showed a great deal of pride in our performance and worked ever so hard for each other.”