RICARDO Santos was given the night off on Tuesday to be present at the birth of his second son.

The Wanderers skipper had the club’s blessing as he missed the 3-1 win against Lincoln City to be with his partner.

Ian Evatt said he had no hesitation allowing the defender some time off.

“Sometimes football comes second to family and what we have to remember is all these players have partners, wives, girlfriends, that sacrifice a lot and Rico’s missus has sacrificed and moved to the North West away from her family, away from her friends,” he said.

“They have already got a young son and sometimes it is important that Rico gives her his all and that must take preference.

“She needs our support, she needs Rico’s support, it’s a magical thing for them and huge congratulations and I’m delighted that we’ve managed to win the game without him.”

Santos’s partner went into labour on Monday – but by the time Wanderers kicked-off against Lincoln, ‘Rico Jnr’ was already kicking and screaming, inspiring the team to claim a big victory in their play-off chase.

“She has had the baby,” Evatt confirmed. “I dread to think what it’s like giving birth! I don’t even want to start to talk about it to be honest, but huge credit to all women that go through it!

“Sometimes family has to come first and I’m over the moon that they’ve had their second son. Everything is good as I understand and everyone is fit, well and healthy, which is the most important thing and the boys have stepped up and managed to win the game tonight.”

Santos’s replacement, Will Aimson, was praised for the job he did in the centre of the back three against a Lincoln side that showed plenty of attacking threat, particularly in the first half.

“I think Lincoln ask you a lot of questions and sometimes you have to go man for man and defend one v one on half a pitch,” he said. “We are trying to high press and I thought the first 15 minutes, we almost nicked it and had a few chances on transition, but we are asking a lot of our defenders to be able to defend one v one and huge spaces and they are getting better at it, their confidence is improving. I thought Will was excellent.”