Wally Downes today updated us with team news ahead of Saturday’s game against Charlton Athletic, including issuing a positive bulletin on Deji Oshilaja.
The Wimbledon captain was today due to have the protective boot removed on the injured ankle that caused him to miss the draw against Rochdale and our manager said that Deji has a chance of featuring in the away match at Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday week.
Speaking in his update for iFollow today, Wally said: “Deji has been immobilised in the boot, but that comes off today. He will probably have a bit of soreness walking around for a day or so. I imagine he will be back on the training pitch doing something on Monday and we will reassess how far away he is from there. If I’m optimistic I’d like to say he could be a part of the plans for next week. Realistically, maybe the week after, but if he’s ahead of progress then there’s a possibility of next Saturday.”
Wally added that it’s not good news with Joe Pigott’s fitness, as the Wimbledon striker is out with a thigh strain suffered in the pre-match warm-up against Rochdale. Checks will also need to be made on James Hanson and Liam Trotter as both players have been ill this week.
“Joe Pigott is out for three or four weeks as he pulled his thigh muscle on Saturday in the warm-up, which threw our plans out a little bit, so we are having to go to work without him. We’ve had a couple of bits of illness this week, Liam Trotter missed a couple of days and James Hanson has been affected too. Hopefully, it’s just a 24-hour thing with James and we will check on him. We are trying to muster everyone together now and hopefully I will have the squad after training today that we are going to go to work with on Saturday.”
Wally confirmed that Egli Kaja is back with AFC Wimbledon after returning from a loan spell with Scottish Premier League side Livingston, where he made six appearances.
“I hadn’t seen him, so it’s like getting a new player again,” said Wally. “He came back and he was blowing a little bit on his first day, but he seemed very direct. I can’t use him at all until January, but he’s got three or four weeks to show me what he can do, without putting him into a game where he might not do himself justice. All in all, he has been a plus this week and if I can get him going he will be an addition to the squad.”
Visit our iFollow channel to watch the full interview with Wally.