Manager Paul Cook sat down with the media on Thursday morning to preview the fixture against Cheltenham Town at the SMH Group Stadium on the afternoon of Good Friday.
Starting with the extended break for the team, after last weekend’s game was called off, Cook said: “The lads have trained hard. We give them a couple of days off initially. After the Accrington game, we gave them a little break.
“We’ve got players back from injury now, which is great for tomorrow. In general, the squad’s looking good. We’re just looking forward to the games coming thick and fast.”
“Lewis Gordon is right on the verge of being back now. I think the Easter weekend will come a bit quickly for Lewis, but after that, he’ll be back. It’s done Lee Bonis and Dylan Duffy the world of good, which is great for those two lads.
“On the bench at Accrington, they both weren’t fit. Great credit to them for declaring themselves fit and wanting to play and help. We were lucky enough that I didn’t have to put Duffy on.”
Looking ahead to Cheltenham Town and Steve Cotterill, Cook commented: “Steve’s pedigree, CV and history as a manager is just absolutely rock solid, isn’t it? He probably got brought into Cheltenham at a time when Cheltenham feared relegation.
“Like all of Steve’s teams, very well structured. They’ve got good players, like the majority of teams in the division now. Really tough game for us. We know what we’re going into, but we’d like to think it’s a tough game for Cheltenham as well.”
Commenting on the final seven games of the season, Cook added: “We’re in the mix with other teams, whoever they are. There’s nothing that’s been decided in the division, both automatically and in the play-offs, and we’re in it.
“You’ve got to stay positive. We know what we’ve got to do to achieve what we need to achieve. The brutal truth is you’ve got to go out and do it.”
Sam Curtis has been away on international duty this week, with the Republic of Ireland U21s. Cook said: “Sam Curtis has been away, played two 90 minutes. The second one being in Kazakhstan, which is a journey and a bit, isn’t it? We’ll look at that one tomorrow.”
