Darren Ferguson has been left with a selection headache ahead of Saturday’s trip to Blackburn, with a number of first team players coming back into contention for a place in the starting XI.
Liam Mandeville, James Coppinger and Matty Blair look set to return and Ferguson says having a healthy squad to pick from is what every manager enjoys.
“We are looking stronger, Matty Blair will be back, Coppinger, Mandeville and Andy Williams will all be back, and Issam has got his clearance too,” he said.
“We need all the players in the squad, and we’ve got good numbers and great quality in the team.
“It was a very young squad on Tuesday night, and while I like the young lads being with us, there’s no doubt the ones that are coming back will only make us stronger.”
Looking forward to Saturday’s trip across the Pennines, Ferguson is in no doubt about how strong a test Blackburn will be.
“They just missed out on the last day on goal difference, and Tony Mowbray has gone in and had an effect there and changed things around and he’s a very good manager,” he added.
“We respect them but we don’t fear them, they’ve got players that are playing below where they should be, they’ve got quality all over the pitch with a big squad, but like any other team they’re we believe we can beat them.
“There are key things that we need to do well and we’ve spoken about that, we’ve got to make sure that we go there with belief and that we're going to get a result and that’s a big thing for me.”