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Craig Mackail-Smith has fired himself into contention for Brighton & Hove Albion's trip to Barnsley this weekend, with his two-goal salvo for the under-21s against Charlton Athletic on Monday.
The striker has been sidelined since March 2013, but Albion's assistant head coach Nathan Jones admits his performance in the 2-2 draw at the Amex caught the eye, as the coaching staff watched a live feed at their Blackburn hotel on Monday night.
"It was fantasic to see him back, we watched the game at the hotel on Monday night on Seagulls Player. He showed a real desire, looked as close to the CMS we know. His first goal was typical of him - he took it really well. For his second he showed real potency and strength.*
"He has shown in that game he is capable of playing 90 minutes, scoring in injury time and that he’s ready now. I am sure he will be full of adrenaline and desire after Monday and we are hopeful he will be an important player for us towards the end of the season."
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Having shrugged off illness and injury, fellow striker Will Hoskins is also in contention for the two-game trip to Barnsley and Leicester City, with the team basing themselves at St George's Park between the two fixtures - and Jones says the plan between now and the weekend will be to work on getting back to Albion's frugal defensive best.
"Up until three games ago we had the best defensive record in the league; but that is what can happen when sides gamble and do certain things against you. It’s a big ask to keep asking the team to keep on keeping clean sheets all the time in order to win games.*
"They have done tremendously well and now they’ve got to tighten up again as we’ve got some big games coming up. We are three points off of the play-off place, and now we’ve got to get results in next two games."
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