James Tilley is back in contention for tomorrow’s trip to fellow play-off hopefuls Crewe Alexandra, as Johnnie Jackson again has good numbers to choose from.
The attacking midfielder, who already has 12 goals in his first campaign with us, trained at the Cherry Red Records Stadium earlier today before the squad departed. He also scored our second goal in the 2-2 draw between the two sides at Plough Lane back in mid-September.
“He’s come through it,” said Johnnie after the session. “The rib injury that he had was a sore one and probably took a bit longer than we thought, but we’ve been dipping him in and out since the start of the week.
“He’s got through the full contact aspect of it in the last couple of sessions, so he comes back into our thinking.”
You can listen to everything Johnnie had to say below.
Forward Omar Bugiel remains on World Cup duty with Lebanon in Australia and midfielder Harry Pell serves a one-match suspension, but other than that Johnnie can again pick from a strong squad.
“Everyone has come through the week,” said Johnnie. “We’re good to go, we’re feeling fresh, and looking forward to it.
“Obviously, I can only pick 11 and seven subs, so a couple are going to have to miss out and won’t travel with us. We’ll take the 18 players that we think can go there and get the job done, and maybe an extra body or two, just to keep ourselves covered.
“I’ve been in touch with Omar. He got 78 minutes in their qualifier and came off unscathed. From my point of view, I want him to come back fresh and we’ll stay in contact.”
Johnnie found a midweek trip to Adams Park for a behind-closed-doors match with League One Wycombe Wanderers very beneficial. In particular, he was pleased with young forward Aron Sasu, who got our goal in the 1-1 draw and at a time when we’re looking for a cutting edge.
“He’s got such a bright future in front of him,” said Johnnie. “He wants to be playing regularly, but he’s played a lot of games. If you look at the total number of appearances that he’s already made at such a young age, he’s doing really well.
“He’s probably ahead of schedule and in an ideal world we’d have probably sent him out on loan, but he’s done so well that we’ve kept him around. He’s been back involved recently - we think highly of him - but we’ve got to manage the situation carefully.”
Our manager’s immediate focus through is on Saturday’s hosts Crewe, who are two places above us in fifth, seven points better off and with a game in hand.
“We’re at the stage in the season when I’m not going to leave us short at all,” added Johnnie. “We’ll need all hands on deck – we will need everyone for this final push.
“The match at Wycombe was a really worthwhile exercise. We got some good minutes into Joe Lewis and Ryan Johnson on their returns from injury. It was an important game for them, just to get them used to being in a competitive environment again.
“Other lads needed a game and I think it’s important in this last stretch now that everyone is ready. Things can happen in football when things change really quickly. All of a sudden from not being involved you can then find yourself in the team, so it was a good opportunity.”
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Photos: Pro Sports Images.
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