John-Kymani Gordon returns to the squad for tonight’s match at the Wham Stadium against Acccrington Stanley.
The forward missed Saturday’s victory over Barrow due to concerns over a possible hamstring injury, but he took part in the final training session at our New Malden base on Monday before the squad set off.
“He comes back into our thoughts,” said Johnnie Jackson. “He got through training great and he gives us another attacking option.
“He was unable to train last week, he did a little bit on Saturday morning just before the game, but he trained properly with the group on Monday morning.”
You can listen to the full interview with Johnnie below.
Omar Bugiel, who scored our second in the 2-0 win at the weekend, is also expected to play a part against a side he bagged a brace against back in October.
“We’ve looked after him today, with the recovery strategies that we put in place,” added Johnnie. “With it being a night game, it gives him a bit more time to recover. We’re hoping that he’ll be fine.
“Omar always comes out of games feeling something! I think it’s down to the way he plays and what he puts into it on a Saturday. He gets knocked about and puts in a real good shift for the team.”
Harry Pell could come into Johnnie’s thinking to face one of his previous clubs, having made a difference as a second-half substitute when he came on for the last quarter of Saturday’s game.
Johnnie said: “He’ll be going back to one of his old stomping grounds, where he’s really well thought of and did so well. Knowing Pelly, he’ll be bang up for it, want to put one past them, and will be looking forward to it.
“I thought he was excellent when he came on, he really helped to see the game out against Barrow. He showed touches of quality, touches of know-how and how to see a game through – he’s done that many times for us this season.”
While tonight’s game will be too soon for two players on the comeback after injury, captain Jake Reeves (hamstring) and Josh Neufville (back) are now making good progress outdoors.
“They’re building up, getting closer and closer. They are hitting some decent speeds with their running and are starting to bring in the changes of direction for their movements – the last stage really.
“They’re introducing the ball into their rehab. We’ll look to dip them in and out of training really soon. With Josh having been out a while, we’ll have to build-up a bulk of training, but probably less so with the skipper as he’s not been out as long.
“The sooner we get them back, the better. It just gives us more options.”
If you’re not attending this evening’s clash, you can catch all the action by purchasing a video match pass – with full coverage from our Radio WDON commentary team – from iFollow Dons.
Main photo: Pro Sports Images.
