Nahki Wells has been told to ignore his hip problem and carry on regardless through City’s next two home games.

The striker, who was left out last week, is expected to come back in the squad to face Barnet at the Coral Windows Stadium tomorrow and Morecambe on Tuesday.

Wells has been booked in for a possible steroid injection the following day to calm the trouble, which flares up when he strikes a ball hard.

But he has been assured that playing in the meantime will cause no further ill effects.

Phil Parkinson said: “We’ve had it scanned and there’s nothing major going on in there. Nahki hasn’t got any symptoms at the moment because he’s had this period of rest.

“He’s been absolutely fine in training and we’ll have another look after today. It’s now about getting him through these two games and then we can see the specialist.

“We’ll see how he is playing these two at home before possibly having the injection on Wednesday, which they feel will settle the problem down.

“In the meantime he’s got the assurance from the physio and the specialist that whatever he does he won’t make it worse.

“I can remember myself that’s a big thing for players to hear. It puts your mind at rest.

“There will be discomfort but you can just get on with it. There’s no tear in the muscle so you can’t make the problem bigger.”

With Wells available again, Parkinson has choices to make in attack for the clash with bottom club Barnet. Alan Connell comes into contention for his first league start at home after his classy equaliser at Accrington.

And midfield battler Ricky Ravenhill is also added to the squad following his comeback from a knee injury.

Winless Barnet have picked up only one point so far and City will start firm favourites to claim a third straight Valley Parade victory. But Parkinson is stressing the attitude of his team must be spot-on.

“People will see it as a home win but I’ve seen Barnet and they’ve got some good players. We’ll give them the utmost respect.

“It will only be a home win if we approach the game in the same manner we did the last two here. We played really well and, funnily enough, the Fleetwood performance was probably better in terms of a strong all-round 90 minutes.”

Parkinson is looking to exploit Barnet’s shaky confidence by bursting out of the blocks as they did against Wimbledon in their last home outing. Two goals in the opening 12 minutes set City on the way to a crushing 5-1 success.

“We’ve got to really start quick and get Barnet on the back foot. We have players who are prepared to run in behind their back four with or without the ball who can create opportunities.

“We certainly don’t under-estimate Barnet. I know their manager Mark Robson well and he’s a good coach.

“I know he’ll have been working hard this week either to bring in a couple of players or to do something slightly different. I’m sure there will be one or two surprises come tomorrow.

“They’ve got that ability to dig things out and survive and they’ve done that over a period of time.

“I’m sure Robbo will get them going. Despite their start, he will have aspirations of finishing higher than Barnet have finished in previous years, just like we’re trying to do here.

“We had a more compact feel about the team last week and the first half was a good example for the lads.

“We played in a disciplined way and focused on what we had to do with our shape. When we do that, we will create chances.”