Manager Paul Lambert says he’s been pleased with Flynn Downes since he made his return to the first team as a sub in the Fulham and Bristol Rovers games but that the midfielder and centre-half Luke Woolfenden face a fight to get back in the team despite having been two of the club’s top performers last season.
Downes, 21, missed the start of this campaign following the offers from Crystal Palace and his resultant transfer request but returned to the fold for the last two matches and pleased his boss with his reaction and his performances from the bench.
"I never expected anything different from him,” Lambert said. "The way he played last week and when he came on against Fulham, I never expected him to be any different.
"We touched on what was going on in his head before and what was happening, let that lad just go and play football, that’s when he’s at his happiest and that’s when he’s at his best.
"He knows the lads in front have been playing really well, [he needed to] try and give me a decision for tomorrow because of the way he played.
"The guys in front have been playing unbelievably well, Teddy Bishop, Jon Nolan, Andre Dozzell, even Emyr Huws when he played against Fulham I thought was very good. I expected Flynn to be that way. You’ve just got to let him go and play football.”
Lambert Downes and Luke Woolfenden, who has been out with a groin problem since the EFL Trophy tie against Arsenal's U21s, have a fight on their hands to get into the side, despite arguably having been last term's standout players, but that’s the way it should be.
"I always believe that anyway,” he said. "You can’t rest on what happened last year or what you’ve done. It’s the here and now when you have to perform.
"And the guys at the minute are playing really, really well, the team’s playing really, really well. We’re playing some really good football, exciting football, winning games, which is the object.
"You have to fight to get in and those guys will know that because the team is playing well. I think the ones that aren’t playing at the minute recognise how well the guys are playing and I think that’s a big thing, so I don’t think there are any problems on that situation.”
With the likes of Woolfenden, Kayden Jackson, Cole Skuse and Alan Judge all back in training after injuries, there is set to be significant competition for places on the bench, let alone in the XI.
"The secret is to play well and you’ll be fine,” he said. "If you don’t play well, it’s tough. There’s no secret in it, that’s what you have to do, you have to perform.”
Lambert was pleased with the impact all three of his subs - Downes, Jack Lankester and Oli Hawkins - made at Bristol Rovers.
"I always think there are two ways to look it it,” he reflected. "The guys that play the 60 or 70 minutes wear a team down, wear it and wear it and wear it and sustain it.
"The guys that come on give you the lift to maybe see it through. The three guys that came on last week were excellent.
"That’s not to say the guys coming off never played a part in the victory, they played a big part in wearing Bristol Rovers down. We’re in a good place at this moment.”