IAN Evatt has explained why Conor Bradley did not feature in Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat at Cheltenham Town.

The Liverpool loanee was not in the squad at Whaddon Road where a late goal from Ryan Broom put an end to a four-game winning streak.

Gethin Jones played as the right wing-back with Will Aimson drafted into the back three for his first league start since August 16.

Asked about Bradley’s absence, Evatt said: “We have to remember this is his first loan and he has put so much into that first loan – no breaks, no days, been away and played both international games and has been ill in that time as well.

“We can’t keep going to the well and risk losing him long term so we decided tonight was the night, with the type of game it was going to be, to give him a rest.

“Obviously in the long term we hope to see the benefits of that but right now, we missed him.”

The Wanderers boss also said there were tactical reasons why he felt the Cheltenham game might not suit Bradley’s style.

“We know Cheltenham, we knew there would be lots of long throws, we knew what the game was going to be like. We picked players that we hoped could physically cope with that,” he said.

“Conor utilises space really well but we knew there would be limited space out there. That’s why we took the decision to give him a rest.

“We miss him but long term it is important we keep him healthy because he is an important player for us.”’ Wanderers go to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday hoping to make immediate amends for their most disappointing performance of the campaign thus far.

Evatt says he had already considered what team to put out at the weekend but said his mind is unlikely to be changed significantly by what he saw on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think anyone – actually, probably only Dapo – looked like they had affected the game when they came on. Other than that, I don’t think anyone comes out with any credit and they were not up to their usual required standard,” he said.

“We will pick whatever team is best to beat Forest Green. Tonight wasn’t about tactics or ability, it was purely based on desire, attitude and energy, and that is what we have had in abundance. Right there it was missing.”

Wanderers had gone three games without conceding a goal and had won their previous four games, which made their struggle at Cheltenham all the more surprising.

And though they came close to snatching a point, Evatt admits his side deserved to be on the losing end of the result.

“We all felt a goal was going to come – I think even the players felt it. The problem was they didn’t do anything about it.

“We are trying to give them messages, making changes from the bench, but nothing we did tonight worked. As I said, we are allowed to lose games, but the way we lost that one was not acceptable for this group. We have moved past that, we’re better than that.

“We were waiting for someone to spark us, and we’d made those five changes very early on because we could sense what was happening,” he said. “Five minutes before the goal we could sense the weight of pressure, we couldn’t get out, and we’d told them to play in behind – and I know that isn’t what we want to do – but even then they didn’t!

“The goal comes down to not doing the basics. We give the ball away, we don’t track a runner, we don’t see a runner, then it is in the back of the net.

“I have no qualms with the goal because it was what we deserved. We looked like we were going to get a point but it would have been an undeserved one.”