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Ahead of this afternoon's League One clash with Oxford, here are the best bits from Ian Evatt's press conference.
How is the squad shaping up ahead of Saturday’s trip to Oxford?
“George (Johnston) is back training today, he’s over his 24-hour sickness bug. Other than that we’re all good.
“Kacha (Elias Kachunga) has been out on the grass for the first time today. He’s done some running, he’s come through fine. He’s progressing really well.”
“We’ve given Lloyd (Isgrove) some time off at the moment. Obviously, he’s nowhere near being fit yet – he probably won’t be available until April time.
“He’s gone on his holiday somewhere because he’ll probably have to work throughout the summer with what he’s missed.
“Josh (Sheehan) is the same. He’s recovering really well. He’s on schedule, just having some time away.
“It can be really challenging – the same thing every day, the same four walls. He needs to freshen up his mind so we’ve given him some time off and he’ll come back and come into the later stage of his recovery.”
What are you expecting from Karl Robinson’s men?
“We want to hunt down the teams above us and we are aware that there is quite a gap to those teams.
“So for this type of game we have to make sure we gain points on the teams ahead of us, and that predominantly means beating them.
“We have got most of them yet to play. Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth at home. We have got our eye on what is to come. But for now, we know full well that Oxford is a very, very tough game.
“They have got a good home record and they score loads of goals, so we have to be full tilt and ready to go.”
What have you made of Declan John’s recent performances as a wing-back?
“During the season players can dip in and out of form, anyone can, and Declan did have a spell. The way we play as a back four, or as a three and wingbacks, isn’t that different.
“If we were to talk about Declan’s strengths and weaknesses, you would say his strengths are attacking and his weaker areas are having too much work defensively.
“The shift in system limits his weaknesses and gives him more strengths, and wing-backs in the way we play them are more like wingers.
“They are on the last line, attacking, crossing, one-v-one, and all of that plays to Dec’s strengths. It is defending the back post or one-v-one defensively which is where he can improve.
“At the end of the day he is a League One footballer and everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so it is about playing to those strengths and hiding the deficiencies, which is something we are doing really well with Declan at the moment.”
Will Aimson’s goal against Charlton was only Wanderers' third from a set-piece this season. Is it an area you need to work on?
“We’ve looked at so many set plays and done work on how important the delivery is to the movement – the answer is they’re both equally important.
“The delivery is vital and you saw the goal on Tuesday – it was so good that we couldn’t not score. It’s the ball that goes in there and says, ‘go and head me in’.
“Will (Aimson) ended up doing that and it’s great that they’re starting to get competitive. I think Will is starting to get competitive with Rico (Santos) to say he’s one up.
“I’ve mentioned to Rico this morning if he doesn’t score this season there will be a hefty punishment in the summer! What that will be, I don’t know yet.
“But we have to start scoring more from set-pieces. We’re a team who created chances from open play and that’s the toughest part - it’s really tough to cut teams open.
“Set plays are where you can get goals from so we need to do more.”
It’s been a frustrating time for Xavier Amaechi. How is he doing?
“It’s been tough for him. Xav is such a good lad and is so determined that he’s even got to the point now where he’s trying to do too much.
“Every time he steps on the training pitch and when he played for the reserves the other day, it’s almost like he feels he has to do something to impress to make up for lost time.
"Sometimes simplicity is genius and he looks a better player when he keeps things simple and mixes his game up. We’ve had a chat today, he understands that.
“I still think he can affect this system as well – he can play wing-back or as a number 10, especially if we need him to attack and get some goals.
“There are still 16 games left in the season - it’s a long, long time. And he will play a part in us hopefully getting to where we want to be.”
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