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Dion Charles won’t be risked against Wigan Athletic after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.
Ian Evatt had earmarked Tuesday night to bring his top scorer back into the squad but has had to change his plans after Charles reported pain in his knee at the training ground on Monday morning.
Wanderers will now give the striker some time to let the pain settle again before pushing him for a first team return.
“He is not ready,” the manager explained on Monday afternoon. “He is still feeling some pain in the knee. It is symptomatic, so as soon as he can deal with the pain, he is feeling he can crack on, but for now he is not ready.
“It hasn’t gone as quickly as we would have liked. The injury is the injury, it is nothing to serious, but with medial ligaments they can be quite sore, especially when they are on your strong kicking leg. Anyone who has had that sort of injury will know that they can be niggly, you can catch them with certain movements, and at the moment he is still in that stage and phase. He will be ready to go soon and he is determined to get back.”
Randell Williams is back in full training after missing the last eight games in league and cup with a hamstring injury.
“He is back and whether we put him into the squad at Wigan, we’ll wait and see, he might need a few more days, but it is great to have him.”
Wanderers will also get an indication on Nathan Baxter’s wrist injury after the cast is removed on Tuesday afternoon.
The keeper has been out of commission since the postponed game at Cambridge United, with Joel Coleman stepping in for the interim.
“It all depends how he feels once we take the pot off,” he said. “We will know then about the muscle wastage which takes place when you have been shut down and immobilised.
“How long will the cognitive movement of his wrist and hand will take to get back to where we need him to be at, we don’t know.
“But we will have a clear understanding of where the wrist is at tomorrow and then have discussions with Nathan about what the next stage might look like.
“We are hopeful that it won’t be too long but until we get it imaged and the pot off, we’re still in no man’s land.”
Wanderers are also waiting to hear from the Football Association on an appeal over Ricardo Santos’s red card at Blackpool but are confident that the ban will be overturned.
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