“I said to the players immediately after the game in the dressing room on Saturday that it was a really good performance and a good win. We see that everyone’s playing with confidence and we want that to continue.”
Wanderers’ 4-0 victory over Port Vale on Saturday lifted them to third place in the League One table ahead of a break from mid-week action this coming weekend.
That will give some players a breather and Wanderers are already without their international trio of international players – Josh Sheehan, Eoin Toal and Chris Forino – to face an Oldham side which won at Harrogate Town on Saturday and has lost just once in their last give games.
Schumacher may rest one or two others but will still send out a strong line-up, with defender Will Forrester in line to figure for the first time since April after recovering from injury. Others who have also been short of first-team action in recent weeks are set to get a chance, alongside a number of younger players who could feature the squad.
“We wanted in pre-season to try and bring people in who are going to push each other and have competition for places in every position and we’ve managed to do that,” added the boss.
“We’ve got a clean bill of health and we’ve got players coming back from long-term injuries that are trying to get some minutes. Kyle Dempsey, for example, got on the pitch at the weekend and scored a good goal, so it keeps him going and gets him in a rhythm.
“But he’s not the only one. We’re a strong squad but we’ll also take some young players as well, because we think it’s important to try and get them some first-team minutes if we can.
“When you’ve got a fully-fit squad and players desperate to play, people knocking on my door saying, ‘when am I going to get a chance?, these are the opportunities that you want.
“Getting into the next round of this competition gives us that extra game in a few weeks’ time and getting into the next round of the FA Cup is the same, so you’re not going to have too much disruption in your calendar.
“It should keep everybody in a rhythm, so it’s important that we treat every game with as much respect as it deserves and we do our best to try and compete and try and do well in it.”
