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Wanderers won’t risk the long-term fitness of Paris Maghoma by piling too much football on him after his return to injury, says Ian Evatt.
The Brentford loanee returned to the starting line-up at Wycombe with a goal on Tuesday night, having missed the previous seven games in all competitions with a hamstring problem.
Summer signing Maghoma was brought in to add “X factor” to the Whites midfield but Evatt has hinted that he will be brought back in phases to ensure there is no repeat injury.
He said: “Paris is a talented player, there is no denying that. He has still got a lot of development and improvement to come but the raw materials are all there, it is just about refining him.
“The injury set him back a bit but the reason we brought him in is that he offers something different than the other midfielders, his ability to dribble and drive past opponents, take the ball under pressure, is something we need in certain games. It was required on Tuesday and you can see with his goal the way he managed to receive the ball in the middle of the pitch, turn, and drive forward was exactly what we wanted.
“Credit to him, he came back after a decent spell out and to perform to that level for as long as he did is great, but we need to be careful that we don’t break him.
“We need to manage him, manage his minutes, because the last thing we need is for him to break down again. We need him fully fit and ready to go.”
After the hustle, bustle and bombardment at Wycombe, Wanderers face a completely different tactical challenge at Charlton, a team whose fast-paced style has brought them plenty of home goals this season.
Evatt admits the contrasting styles in League One make it a unique league in which to manage – and he believes planning ahead would be easier in the division above.
He added: “It is hard, this league is challenging because of that. It is probably a split league in terms of styles and when we get into the Championship, at whatever stage that may be, the games are a lot easier to plan for. They are obviously more difficult but they are stylistically they are more consistent in their approach.
“This season you need players with a certain skillset to deal with some physicality, direct style, set plays etc, and then the more technical games, which are predominantly at home.
“But to have players who can do both of those things rolled into one, they are predominantly in the Championship or in the Premier League, so it is about how we balance the squad and pick horses for courses, so to speak.
“It is a challenging thing to do but something we’re working hard to get right.”
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