Joey Barton has assured Bristol Rovers fans there is no cause for concern after James Connolly sat out Tuesday's 3-0 EFL Trophy win over Swindon Town.
The centre-back has been sidelined for almost two months after a stress fracture was discovered in his spine, but he has returned to training and the 20-year-old was eager to get some minutes under his belt against the Robins at the Mem.
However, the Wales under-21 international was not included in the squad, but Barton insists the Gas have merely exercised caution with his return given the nature of the injury that has ruled him out of Rovers' past nine League One games. Connolly started the first five matches of the campaign, scoring once.
"He wanted to play tonight, but with some of the physical metrics we use, we felt it came a little bit too soon for him, merely by days," Barton explained. "Had it been next Tuesday or this Saturday, it might’ve been a different story.
"But we felt with him having a stress fracture in his spine, to try to nick five or six days off it now is just idiotic from us, especially when we’ve got lots of competition.
"We’re keen to get him back in our group because he is a big player for us, but also we have to do it as safely and securely as we can."
With Connolly wanting to play on Tuesday but missing out, Harvey Saunders was in a similar position. The forward has fallen down the pecking order since a decent start to the season for the former Fleetwood Town speedster.
He now has four or five players seemingly ahead of him in Barton's attacking ranks, and Tuesday would have been an opportunity for the 25-year-old to stake a claim, but he missed out due to a suspension after receiving a yellow card in each of the earlier EFL Trophy group stage games.
"Harvey is frustrated because he is desperate for games I think tonight, you can him and he knows that would have been an opportunity for him," Barton said. "Especially when they go down to nine men, he is probably kicking himself that he would have had the opportunity to score goals."
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