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Paris Maghoma will be available to start for Wanderers at Barnsley after overcoming the illness that saw him step out of contention at Peterborough United last weekend.
The midfielder was replaced by Kyle Dempsey, who scored Bolton’s first goal of the day at London Road, so Ian Evatt has a big selection decision to make at the heart of his midfield.
Victor Adeboyejo is back in contention for a place on the bench, having been out of action since March 9 with a hamstring injury. The former Barnsley striker scored on his last visit to Oakwell and has 10 goals to his name this season.
Ricardo Santos is now almost clear of the calf issue that has been plaguing him for the last couple of months, while Nathan Baxter has shown no after-effects of the wrist problem which kept him out for several weeks.
Dion Charles – who also scored at Peterborough – has trained all week with no reoccurrence of the swollen knee which had been an issue throughout February and March.
Barnsley have no new injury concerns and are still missing defender Donovan Pines, who scored against Bolton at Oakwell last time out. His absence with a thigh injury which required surgery coincided with a downturn in form which saw the Tykes win just two of their last 12 games.
Robbie Cundy and Josh Benson are unlikely to be risked despite returning to training but midfielder John Russell could feature in the squad having recovered from a hamstring strain.
Ian Evatt revealed that he had the luxury of playing a first team 11 v 11 this week as he prepared for the semi-final and this will be the first time he has faced Barnsley this season with both top-scorer Dion Charles and captain Ricardo Santos fit to start.
“It makes a massive difference having the vast majority of the players fit again and it all seems to be coming together at just about the right time for us, which is a real positive,” he said.
“Being able to train properly and put some detail into the players over the last few days has been really important and I always say they tend to play better when they have had time to prepare.
“The players who are not in the starting XI have been excellent, they have been supportive, and they will be ready as well if they have to come off the bench, or if they are needed in the next match, or anything else what might come after that.
“We have said all along it is a team effort and that doesn’t change in the play-offs."
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