Team news ahead of Exeter clash

Scott Fraser

Speaking at his press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game against Exeter City at The Valley, Michael Appleton provided an update on the fitness of a variety of players.

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On Scott Fraser and Nathan Asiimwe, who both returned to the squad for Saturday’s game against Shrewsbury Town...

"They both trained again today. It was nice to see them get minutes. Obviously Scott has been out for a bit more time than Nathan and I think he needed it - you could tell after speaking to him later that he certainly needed those minutes so it was good for everybody really.

"Nathan has been out a little bit less and played more games this year, so it was a little bit easier for him. They both trained today without any issues and we want to keep them as fit as we possibly can."

On Terry Taylor, who came off injured on Saturday...

"Terry has gone for a scan today. The initial fear was his ankle, because he rolled his ankle early in the game and then he went knee-to-knee with one of their players a little bit later, so he was really sore in a couple of areas. I think the ankle was the main issue. We do not know the extent yet but we do know that he is going to be out for a period of time."

On when Panutche Camará may return from his foot injury...

"It is difficult to say. The last three or four days he has been on the grass. He has not been with the group but he has been on the grass with the physio and the sports science lads. It is good to see him back with boots on if I am being honest because it is quite an acute injury. He has been back on the grass, he has had his boots on and not had any major reactions from that, so hopefully that is a good sign."

On additional injury concerns following Saturday’s game...

"There were a couple of bruised bodies on Saturday - it ended up being a physical game. We have got one or two players who we will give a little bit of time over the next 24 hours before we make any big decisions on it. There will be a couple that will be 50/50 for tomorrow. Hopefully they will be on the right side of that and we won't have too many changes."

On whether Chuks Aneke will be in a position to start games...

"I have spoken to Chuks about starting from the second day of me coming into the job. I asked him a few questions and to be fair he gave me genuine and honest answers. I like that and I think we have got a pretty good relationship. There will be times when his role will be to start and try and give us a foothold in the game and get us playing in the opposition’s half instead of, like we did on Saturday, where we just got caught overplaying a little bit - playing square and backwards and slow. Whether that is tomorrow night or not, I will keep everyone waiting on that."

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