Ched Evans leads the Fleetwood Town comeback pack

Joey Barton hinted he might have an injury boost this weekend, with one of his sidelined five Ched Evans returning to training.
Ched Evans.Ched Evans.
Ched Evans.

Five-goal forward Evans (shoulder) was expected to train yesterday, with central defender Craig Morgan (hamstring), Conor McAleny (hamstring), Tommy Spurr (groin) and Dean Marney (groin) not expected to be too far behind.

Evans is the likely candidate to return to the fold at Doncaster tomorrow and Barton says they are all on their way back, with none of the injuries long-term.

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The Town boss said: “All are coming back. Without going into specifics, all niggles as opposed to being out for a period of time.

“As a manager you understand that with a group of 23-24 players you will get niggles. They are all coming back into it.

“We expect three or four to be available for Saturday should everything be OK between now and then.

“Some will need a week or 10 days’ training to be on the safe side because we do not need to rush them back. It would be foolish to.

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“If it was the FA Cup final tomorrow, probably five of them would put themselves forward for selection.

“On the whole we have a fit and healthy group.”

Barton’s side are without a win in five and he is particularly frustrated at failing to win after leading in the last two games.

He said: “Certainly in the latter stages of my career, once we got 1-0 up that was usually the end of the game. I’d like to think I was a specialist. At QPR and Burnley, that was something me and Clint (Hill, Town coach) took as a real badge of honour.

“We are learning. We will get there. It is just managing the game at key times.

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“You have to get that second goal. We have just got to get a little bit more streetwise n terms of closing games out.

“The pleasing thing for me is we are getting into the ascendency. We are starting games correctly. Probably bar Wimbledon and Southend we have got into positions to win games.”