MARVIN Sordell is on standby as Owen Coyle prepares to use his in-form squad to its fullest over the busy Easter weekend.
The £3.2million striker has not started a game for Wanderers since his January transfer deadline day switch from Watford, making his only two appearances so far from the bench.
But Whites boss Coyle dropped a hint yesterday that the 21-year-old could play a part in the double header against Fulham and Newcastle United, alongside a few other fringe players.
“Marvin is desperate to get in there and play and it has been stop-start for him because he was cup tied,” he said.
“We have strength in depth and we’ll need it. Ivan Klasnic was excellent last week, the skipper (Kevin Davies) was as well, and that’s what I want.
“You don’t want to look around your squad and see players who are out of sorts, wondering what is the best team to put out. We probably have 18 or 19 players who are capable of starting against Fulham and that’s great to see.”
Midfielder Darren Pratley is now back in full training and pushing for a start after receiving six stitches in a deep cut sustained playing against Tottenham a week last Tuesday.
Gretar Steinsson is also back in contention for a place in the back four after shrugging off a minor knee problem that stopped him travelling to Wolves last weekend.
A very different mood exists in the Wanderers squad heading into tomorrow’s meeting with Fulham than did back in December when they crashed 2-0 at Craven Cottage.
That proved to be a fifth consecutive defeat, leaving Wanderers rock bottom of the Premier League.
“It’s a very different team as well,” Coyle said. “We got one or two back after that game – Sam Ricketts has certainly played his part, and young Adam Bogdan has really emerged.
“Fulham have a few top, top players and you’ve got to remember that they have spent very heavily on them. I think the fees for Bryan Ruiz and Moussa Dembele were close to £10million. They are huge sums.
“We’re aware of their threat but they’ll be equally aware of the threat we have, because Martin Petrov, Ryo Miyaichi, Mark Davies and David Ngog are in top form.”
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