First team coach Rob Tuvey was keeping his cards close to his chest, ahead of our trip to Plymouth.
Nathan Young-Coombes is vying for contention for his first minutes since mid-September after making good progress in recent weeks.
A quarter-final trip to Bristol Rovers in the New Year awaits the winners of tomorrow night’s Papa John’s Trophy third round tie, but although our numbers are boosted by youngsters able to return from loan deals, we will check on a couple of unnamed players.
“There are a couple of players potentially ruled out,” said Rob, who was reluctant to give too much away before setting off from our New Malden training base earlier today. “We’ll check on them, to see how they are, but there's nothing I am giving away at this stage.
“Academy Manager Michael Hamilton deals with our players who go out on loan and puts a clause in there that they can all come back and play in this competition. They are available for selection, even if they are out on loan.”
One player who may figure is Brentford loanee Nathan Young-Coombes, with the striker now fully recovered from a knee injury sustained against Northampton in September.
“Potentially he could figure,” added Rob. “He will travel. He is better for a week’s training under his belt, and he needs that game time. Hopefully that could come against Plymouth.”
Having stretched an unbeaten run in League Two to eight games and a new record of five successive clean sheets, since our return to the Football League, Rob made clear our intentions regarding the Papa John’s Trophy.
“Ultimately, there’s a place at Wembley up for grabs. Fans have their opinions of the competition, but we’ll be going there with what we believe is a team that can win the game and hopefully they can do the business.”
Plymouth stand in the way of making progress. The contest brings together clubs who contested the League Two Play-Off final six years ago. Though that showpiece occasion went Wimbledon's way, the Pilgrims are now pushing for promotion to the Championship.
“We’re getting to that business end of the competition and you can see Wembley on the horizon, so we’ve got to go there and be at our best.
“It’ll be a really tough test. They’ve just gone to the top of League One and their manager Steven Schumacher is doing a great job there. They’re really good up front, with players who can excite and bring goals to their game. We know that they are flexible within their formations that they play, and they’ve played different teams throughout this competition.”
You can see the full preview with Rob Tuvey ahead of Wednesday night’s game at Plymouth below, via the link to our official YouTube channel.