Nathan Jones has declared Carlos Mendes-Gomes “ready for the level” and is now just biding his time on when to unleash the winger on the Championship.
The manager confirmed that the summer signing from Morecambe will not be sent on loan in January, despite only making six substitute’s appearance in the league and not featuring at all since the goalless draw with Huddersfield on October 2.
But Town have been developing Mendes-Gomes behind the scenes so that he can grab his opportunity with both hands.
Jones said: “We’ve had many people ring us up saying, ‘we can see he’s not had much game time, will he be available?’ And it’s categorically ‘no’. We know the plan we have for Carlos.
“Carlos will go nowhere, Carlos will feature for us and we know that, we believe in that, it’s a process involved and hopefully that process will now start coming to fruition.”
The Spaniard hasn’t even appeared on the bench in the last six matches, since going unused in the 1-0 win over Hull City on October 23.
Jones said: “He might have an element of frustration but Carlos’s time will come, Carlos’s time will come. He’s really been improving.
“Physically, he’s ready for the level now, so sooner or later you will see Carlos and hopefully, we won’t then see him take a backwards step and be bit part.
“We’ve had to work with him, had to put him in and bring him out, had to work with him in terms of behind the scenes, so now when he gets his opportunity, then we want him to take that and not look back.
“In training, he’s definitely shown that he has (developed) and in training he’s definitely stepped up to the mark, so we’re very pleased with him, and we’ve got a very strong squad, especially in those front ones, with himself, Fred (Onyedinma) and (Admiral) Muskwe, three new players that are really potent that can really hurt players.
“There’s good competition with those, but Carlos will be a good player for us.”
