Experienced defenders Aaron Pierre and Alex Pearce are both back in contention for our final game of the season at Grimsby Town on Bank Holiday Monday.
Pierre has served a one-match suspension for his sending off at the end of our defeat to Swindon Town, while Pearce is back in the frame after returning from injury again. We will be without midfielder Harry Pell for the match at Blundell Park.
“Pelly had a bit of a setback, and it looks like he’ll be unavailable,” said Johnnie Jackson after Friday’s training session. “Pearcey has trained all week and comes into contention. Pierre missed the draw with Tranmere last week for the handball against Swindon."
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“It’s nice to have those guys back and we’d have liked it to have been sooner, what with Josh Davison having also returned recently. They’re fit now and what’s important is that we send them away over the summer injury-free, and when they do come back they hit the ground running and don’t pick up the knocks that we did this season.
“Pretty much everyone else is fit and firing. We go there with a few selection headaches. We’d like to finish the season with a positive performance, three points and to build on last week.
“There’s an opportunity to look at some of the younger players. We want to put a strong team out there and be competitive though. It’s about finding that balance. We’ve got some big decisions to make over the summer, so it’s another opportunity to look at people. We’ll weigh it all up and get a competitive team together to go and win the game.”
Johnnie also paid tribute to defender Chris Gunter, who will retire from playing football after the final whistle on Monday.
“Congratulations to Chris on a magnificent career,” said Johnnie. “He’s the ultimate professional with the way he conducts himself every day at the training ground.
“He’s a real role model for those younger guys, especially Isaac Ogundere and Huseyin Biler - he took them under his wing and helped with their development. He’s had a stellar career, Wales' second most-capped player, he’s been there and done it all.”
Johnnie also hinted what will happen when it’s all over for this campaign and how planning for next season will hot up in the summer months.
“I don’t think I’ll be without my phone for too long!” said Johnnie. “Even when you’re away, you’re constantly thinking about these things. I’ll be on the phone with Craig Cope, and I'll be speaking with potential incomings and outgoings.
“We’ll go away and have a break. I think it’s important that everyone does that - players and staff. We’ll also look at what we did well and what we didn’t, and we’ll try and make those improvements."