WANDERERS captain Ricardo Santos is expected to make his first team return against Portsmouth on Tuesday night.

Ian Evatt confirmed that the centre-back, who was hospitalised in early December with a pneumonia-like virus, will make his comeback in the Papa Johns Trophy quarter final.

Santos was not in the squad against Plymouth Argyle, sparking concern among supporters that he could have picked up another injury.

But Evatt explained his absence after the 0-0 draw was not anything to worry about.

“It was nothing to do with anything apart from the fact we want to get him up to speed as soon as possible and being on the bench, with the amount of work that will entail, we felt that a proper training day with the B Team where we can test his energy and physicality and fitness levels was more important,” he said.

“We felt he would gain more from that, so it is what we decided to do.

“He had a really good day, a really good training session, and he will be ready to play on Tuesday.”

Will Aimson has excelled since Santos dropped out of the reckoning and put in another man-of-the-match display against his former club Plymouth, capped by an acrobatic goal-line clearance from Ben Waine’s header.

“It was wonderful defending,” Evatt added. “They didn’t have many chances – half a sniff from a set play – and then a bit of a mix up. But great credit to the defence that when you are having that much dominance and control, and there is a big moment like that one, they kept their concentration and defended superbly.

“Another clean sheet, I think that is one goal conceded in the last four and that was a real bad one. One defeat in the last 11 and we were winning that one with 10 minutes to go.

“We are doing a lot of things right, it is just finding a way to get over a line when you are having that much dominance.”

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