Key Shrewsbury Town duo back in the fold for AFC Wimbledon trip
Ollie Norburn and Ro-Shaun Williams are in contention to make their injury returns for Shrewsbury at AFC Wimbledon tomorrow.
Boss Sam Ricketts has the influential midfielder and defender, who have been missing with knee and hamstring injuries respectively, back in his options for the trip to south west London.
Midfielder Norburn, who could take the captain’s armband, has not played any football this season after injuring his knee on the pre-season training trip to Portugal two months ago.
Williams began the season in impressive form but limped out early in the second League One game at MK Dons with a hamstring injury.
But Ricketts is weighing up what role the duo will play on their returns. He said: “Both will be involved. As we get nearer to the game we’re just seeing what they both can and can’t do.
“As much as we want them back we’ve also got to be fair on them. If they’re not quite ready it’s not fair to throw them in, certainly when Ollie hasn’t played other than training ground friendlies.
“We are nearly there in people off the medical bench but we’ve still got three or four people in that scenario (building fitness). It’s not as if all of players are 100 per cent fit ready for 90 minutes.
“If someone hasn’t played for a number of months, if they play on Saturday the chances are they might be ready to go on Tuesday. But it comes down to the individual and how they feel.”
Ricketts warned: “He’s been off the pitch for a long time. His last proper game was the back end of last season. He’s a very good player but you can’t expect someone to be at their very best when they’ve been out for so long.”
Town have been without a fixture in League One for a fortnight owing to the international call-ups and Ricketts was keen to use the time to build up sharpness.
“It’s definitely helped them in terms of coming back and getting some days training and integrating with everyone.
“Both (Norburn and Williams) are at different stages of their comebacks.”
The break has also provided time for deadline day signings Jason Cummings and Callum Lang to bed in. The strike pair could make their Town bows tomorrow, though it seems Lang is more likely to feature from the start.
Striker Fejiri Okenabirhie remains absent with a hamstring problem, although the frontman has began running in training.
Shaun Whalley also misses the trip to Kingsmeadow as he serves a one-match ban.
