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Xavier Amaechi has taken another big step towards a first team return at Wanderers – but Ian Evatt says he will have to be patient with the winger as he finds his feet.
Hamburg loanee Amaechi trained alongside his team-mates for the first time in a full session on Monday, having missed the last two months with a fractured metatarsal sustained in pre-season.
Evatt is delighted with the 20-year-old’s condition despite his lack of football and hopes to get him involved in some of the club’s upcoming Central League games to help build his match fitness.
“Xav came through training for the first time this morning and looked fine,” he said.
“The signs are good and the way he has conducted himself during rehabilitation has been fantastic. He looks in great condition, a real specimen and an athlete, so we are looking forward to getting him back. At the minute it all looks good.
“He will definitely need to play. He missed a lot of football before he came to us and pre-season he was just about getting up to speed before the injury happened.
“He will need some time and we will need to be patient.
“We are at a stage of the season where we have such limited options that it would be easy to rush him but that is not the right thing to do for him and I am not prepared to take that risk.”
Wanderers have no new injury concerns after the weekend defeat to Portsmouth, although a bug which hit the camp at the end of last week could still be affecting a few players.
“Fingers crossed I think we’re okay but I don’t want to say too much because we are having a bit of a rough ride,” Evatt said.
“We have had a difficult spell, we all know it, but there is a determination there to roll up our sleeves and get on with it. We need to build confidence and I think this is a good game to do it.”
Evatt is also monitoring Gethin Jones, who had encouraging results after a second scan on an ankle injury last week.
Doctors initially said the full-back will be out of action until the New Year but Wanderers will still try to limit risk if he is to return any sooner.
“Gethin is pain free but we are going to have to go through that rough ride with him, cool our jets a little bit, because we don’t want to push him and make anything worse,” he said.
“It is annoying for me because we miss him, it is annoying for him because he misses it, but I think long term it is the right thing for both parties.”
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