GARETH Ainsworth admitted he might have to make a playing comeback tomorrow if an injury crisis at Adams Park doesn't resolve itself.

The Blues boss was only able to name three outfield players on his substitutes' bench for Monday night's televised defeat by Burton Albion, with six of the 21 players at his disposal unavailable.

Key defender Alfie Mawson is likely to be unable to feature for tomorrow's League Two trip to Cheltenham Town after being taken to hospital with suspected concussion.

Max Kretzschmar and Sam Wood both had to be substituted through injury to reduce the numbers even further, while midfielder Peter Murphy was limping heavily towards the end of the 3-1 defeat by the Brewers.

Ainsworth will have everything crossed his medical staff will be able to get everyone back in time - otherwise naming himself amongst the substitutes might be a necessity.

The Wanderers boss registered himself as a player on non-contract terms at the start of the season, assigning himself the number 41 squad number to reflect his age.

He was named on the bench a couple of times at the end of last season and said he could still do a job if Ainsworth the manager needed Ainsworth the player.

He said: "Keeping myself fit has been important. I'm 41 so it's not going to be the Gareth Ainsworth who was 25 and was flying around for 90 minutes - those days have gone.

"I can still do a job if called upon and needed for minutes on the pitch. I'll do that to the best of my abilities.

"It would be tough for me to get out there but I'm sure the boys would be fine with me next to them on the pitch."

Ainsworth - who featured in a couple of pre-season friendlies for Wanderers in July - added: "We only had three subs on Monday, so it was tough. People realised what I've been talking about all these weeks when it's been going great, that we're a bit slim on numbers. It wasn't a great night for us football and injury-wise.

"There's been three or four occasions this season where I've not been able to fill the bench properly. I can only put three subs on, so as long as there's three or four on the bench you're OK. We would never leave ourselves short.

"[Physios] Cian O'Doherty and Dave Wates will play a big part in getting people prepared for Saturday's game against Cheltenham. There's a good few of them with knocks and whacks and one or two of them, we'll have to wait right until the last minute to see if they can make the trip."

Wanderers do have the boost of knowing Josh Scowen and Aaron Pierre can come back into the reckoning after serving their respective one match bans.