WANDERERS were recharging their batteries from the moment they left the London Stadium on Tuesday night, with Phil Parkinson saying rest and recuperation is now key to success against Brentford.

Although the Whites boss made seven changes in defeat at West Ham United, he is nevertheless concerned at the physical toll which has been taken on his side in what has been a demanding run of games.

The return to contention of Sammy Ameobi will be a boost, with the former Newcastle United winger making his long-awaited return to full training this week after a knee injury.

But after conserving as much energy as he felt possible within his squad in the Carabao Cup, Parkinson admits he will have to leave it longer than normal before deciding his team for Saturday.

“We’ll have to look at the lads closely now before we decide what we are doing for the Brentford game,” he said.

“We have carried a couple of injuries – Mark Little had a problem which meant he couldn’t play against West Ham, Jem Karacan was on four bookings so we didn’t want to risk him, and we left Gaz Madine out because we wanted to give Wilbraham a game.

“Now it’s the reverse of that, we need to make sure we pick a bit of freshness in the team because that was a difficult 90 minutes against a very good side.

“It felt as if we were down to bare bones selecting a team for that game but I’m hoping there will be a bit more freshness to pick from on Saturday.

“It was great winning at Sheffield Wednesday and being able to come down to play at a wonderful stadium but we knew it was going to be a tough night going Saturday-Tuesday again.”

Parkinson insisted he could draw a positive from the 3-0 defeat against the Hammers in the way his side responded in the second half.

Trailing 2-0 after half an hour, it appeared Slaven Bilic’s Premier League men were going to post a cricket score, yet a late wonder goal from full-back Arthur Masuaku was the only further goal added after half time.

“In the first 15-20 minutes when the first goal went in we were letting runners go off us, we were second best in a few challenges in the middle of the park. Those little, simple things were costing us and we had to stay stronger as a group,” the manager said.

“We got through that period well and I was pleased to get in at half time intact. Second half we were miles better and credit to the lads for keeping themselves in there.

“I know you look at the result and think ‘oh no’ but it was so important to get people like Andy Taylor a game because he’d been struggling with the calf injury.

“I’ll give credit to Morais for how he dealt with Arnautovic second half too, because that’s down to pure heart, nothing else. It’s wanting to do a job for the team.

“We clearly need to get off to better starts and give ourselves a chance but there were bonuses, regardless of the result.”

Parkinson was also pleased with his debutant Jeff King, the 21-year-old former Ashton United and Altrincham midfielder who has had to wait patiently in the Under-23s for his chance in the last 12 months because of the restrictive terms of the transfer embargo.

“I have got to mention young Kingy in midfield,” Parkinson said. “He’s been suspended from the Under-23s, so he hasn’t played much recently but I think he played with real heart and commitment.

“I thought the youngsters did well again – Antonee Robinson was terrific again.

“Kingy cramped up after 55 minutes but understandably wanted to carry on, it was a tough introduction to league football for someone who has only played at Under-23 level.

“Wheats (David Wheater) came on second half and was great. When you look at it on the touchline and you want your experienced players to stand strong and hold the team together, I thought they did that.”