Interim manager John McGreal believes full-back Kane Vincent-Young will get back to his best once he’s got a run of games behind him following a frustrating two years with injury.
Vincent-Young joined the Blues from Colchester, then managed by McGreal, in August 2019 and made a huge impression in his first nine games for the club before suffering the first of a number of injuries.
The 25-year-old made a return to action in March but then suffered a shoulder injury at Shrewsbury, which required surgery then meant he wasn’t fit at the start of pre-season.
This campaign has seen him in and out of the side, again partly due to injury but also down to the good form of Janoi Donacien at right-back.
Since McGreal came in in his temporary role, Vincent-Young and Donacien have both got the nod with the former U’s man at right-back from the start at both Charlton and Wigan with the St Lucia-born defender on the left, but with the pair swapping at half-time at the DW Stadium on Saturday.
"Confidence-wise, you get Kane roaring and you get him going and firing on all cylinders, he’s a talent and he’s an asset to the club,” McGreal reflected.
"As you alluded to, he’s just been so unfortunate that when he has got going he’s got injuries.
"Fingers crossed for the boy that he’s able to keep himself fit, injury free and get a good run in the game.
"Get a good run of games behind him and then you will see the best of Kane because there’s obviously a reason why he’s come to the club and I think the fans and the press saw how good he was prior to him getting injured.
"And while we’re here at this time and when the new manager comes in, it’s down to us to maintain what he does because he gets you excited with what he does from a full-back position. He is a very talented boy.”
Could be play further up the pitch? "Possibly, I think he used to be a winger going back to his Tottenham days prior to him coming in at Colchester, and you can see why, he’s always on those mazy runs as a full-back, so he has got that in him and we don’t want to take that away from him. That’s a big part of his armoury.
"But at this moment in time, I think he has put himself in that full-back position and he’s done particularly well.
"And he can play either side, a little bit like JD [Donacien], he can also play either side. It does give them a couple of strings to their bows.”