Garry Thompson is set to spearhead City’s attack again tonight as James Hanson struggles with a virus.

Hanson missed training yesterday with the bug that laid Ritchie Jones low last week.

Phil Parkinson will make a late check on the targetman but otherwise Thompson is likely to stay in as the side return to league duty against Chesterfield.

Parkinson had switched them around at Northampton to give Hanson a breather. He only came on for Thompson for the final 15 minutes.

The City chief said: “Hopefully it’s not too bad with Hans but we won’t know until later.

“It was important to give him a break on Saturday because he’d gone 60 minutes on his own up front at Burton and 120 against Wigan. He did a great job but it’s a tough ask for a big striker.

“Zav (Hines) and Nahki (Wells) also got a break, which did them good. You’ve got to keep a level of continuity but equally we’ve got to put fresh legs in there.

“The good thing about the team on Saturday was the real quality of football we played. The lads who came in all did well.”

Parkinson has once again stressed the “we’re all in it together” message to the dressing room as they embark on another busy week. He wants to make it clear that players left out of the starting line-up have not been dropped.

“All the players involved are good enough to play,” he added. “We’re trying to build a spirit of togetherness within the club.

“If the team does well, the individuals benefit from that, but to achieve what we want to, then everybody’s going to play a part.

“There will be times when people don’t play and maybe feel a bit unlucky but it’s important to remind everyone that it is a squad game rather than just about 11 players.

“You look at the team and we’ve got Ricky (Ravenhill) back for Saturday. There are a lot of good players.

“When we’ve changed things, that hasn’t weakened the team too much. In fact there have been times when it’s strengthened it.

“We’ve got confidence in every player and it’s important that they understand that.”

Craig Forsyth is well rested after sitting out both cup ties last week. But he is not certain to walk straight back in.

Parkinson said: “Craig has done okay for us so far but equally while he’s been out, the other wide players have performed well.

“Zav was great at Wigan and was very unlucky not to get any game time at all on Saturday. But Craig and John Egan are both in our thinking.”

Former Accrington boss Paul Cook only took the Chester-field helm last week but has already seen both ends of the spectrum. A dismal home defeat to Barnet was followed by a 6-1 stuffing of League One strugglers Hartlepool in the FA Cup.

Parkinson said: “We’ve seen the best and worst of them in the last couple of games but they’ve got some good players. Saturday was a great win for them and they will be buoyant. We expect them to be up there in the shake-up at the end of the season.”