CANICE Carroll hopes to be fit and available to play in tomorrow’s crucial trip to Oldham Athletic, after he picked up a knock to his leg at Newport County in midweek.

The 20-year-old Brentford loanee was attempting to block a pass when he received a kick to his leg in the 89th minute of Town’s game at Rodney Parade on Tuesday night.

Ice has been applied to Carroll’s wound since he picked up his minor injury, and he hopes rest during the players’ day off on Thursday will serve as a timely boost to his chances of appearing in his usual midfield slot against the Latics.

He said: “Injuries happen, I had ice on it throughout Wednesday and have rested up to hopefully be ready for Saturday.

“I thought the performance on Tuesday night at Newport was really good, conditions were tough and the opponents were tough.

“Balls were coming into the box non-stop and the ball went from back to front quickly. Newport like to get the ball forward, and they have a good side.

“I thought we dealt with the threat well, Dion (Conroy) and Luke (Woolfenden) were heading balls away for fun. It helps the teams out when we play like that.

“We were really good going forward, though it took us a while to settle into the game.

“But when we got a hold of the game, the only chances Newport had were half-chances or chances that we gave to them. We created a lot, it was just that final pass or touch that gets the ball into the net that we lacked.”

A similar game plan to Tuesday’s trip to Newport looks set to be applied in tomorrow’s crunch test at Oldham, which could define the club’s play-off credentials.

Defeat could drop Town six points short of the play-off frame with only four fixtures remaining, while a win can lift Wellens’ side level with seventh-placed Exeter City.

The game is arguably Town’s toughest of their five remaining fixtures – with ties against Cambridge United, Crawley Town, Cheltenham Town and Notts County following.

Poaching a play-off spot is therefore within Town’s grasp – and Carroll underlined his comments from earlier this week regarding his belief that they can be reached.

He said: “Of course we can pull the deficit back. We see Tuesday’s result as points dropped, but it’s not a result to beat ourselves up about.

“The team was really good, everyone put a great shift in. If we can apply ourselves like that in every game, it will be a good concluding five games.

“There will be twists and turns, and we’ll be ready for it.

“You never know what can happen in this league.”