Forest Green Rovers boss Steve Cotterill remains uncertain on the fitness of Liam Sercombe and Tom Knowles ahead of Saturday’s fixture against Woking.
Midfielder Sercombe was substituted at half time in the midweek goalless draw at Ebbsfleet where as winger Knowles was not included in the squad after starting last weekend’s defeat at Braintree Town.
“I don’t quite know at the moment,” Cotterill said on the duo’s chances of making Saturday’s home fixture.
“Tom’s wasn’t a heavy one. So we’ll see where he is but as I’ve said it didn’t do him any harm in having a little bit of a break. I think he has perhaps needed one.
“With Sercs, we’ll have to look at him a bit closer to the game. We’ll certainly see how that one goes tomorrow (today). Teddy (Jenks) is still weeks as opposed to days.”
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Rovers are back at The New Lawn after a fortnight away which included two long away journeys. When asked on whether being back home will be an advantage, Cotterill replied, “We don’t know. You never know until you get there.
“We go into every game whether that is home or away and we want to win it. Nothing will change regarding that and we want to do well.”
Since the draw between the two sides back in October, the visitors have seen a managerial change with Neil Ardley replacing Michael Doyle in the dug-out.
Cotterill believes his side gained a valuable point at the Kingsfield Stadium and also praised the former Wimbledon boss, who has only suffered one defeat in his 10 matches in charge in the league.
“We drew down at Woking. We had Ryan (Inniss) sent off down there for a tackle I look back on and still think it was a perfectly legitimate tough tackle.
“We did well down there to get a draw in the end. They’ve changed a little since then and Neil Ardley has done a good job since he’s been in there so it will be a tough game just like every other.”
After a difficult week on the road, Cotterill stressed the importance of allowing the players to fully recover before Saturday’s game.
“Very little (training). You can’t do too much today (Thursday). We will have to do a little bit more tomorrow but second day recovery is about getting their legs back from the other night. It’s important we do that.”
With just 14 league games remaining this season and Rovers playing their third game in the space of a week, Cotterill stressed that the player’s fitness levels cannot be under-valued.
“They will not get any fitter at this stage of the season. Our boys have been fit, injury apart, which you can’t do anything about. I don’t have any qualms with their fitness.
“We had a ball intercepted the other night on the edge of their box and they had a three on two against us. By the time we got to our box it was a six on three in our favour. That tells you how big their spirit is and how fit they are.”
