GARETH Ainsworth said he wasn't prepared to take any fitness risks with Paris Cowan-Hall after the winger picked up an injury on Saturday.

The former Plymouth man didn't look to be in too much discomfort as he came off just before half time of the draw with Dagenham and Redbridge, but Ainsworth said he didn't want to take a gamble.

Cowan-Hall has featured regularly for Blues this season after injury hampered him last year.

He was top of the class in the pre-season fitness tests but a series of niggling injuries limited him to 30 appearances last season.

And Ainsworth had that in mind when he made the decision to take him off so as not to make a potential injury even worse.

He said: "That shows what we are here: a small squad. With any indication of injury, even though there were only three minutes til half time, there's no risk taken with any players - he's coming straight off.

"I can't lose players. If Paris is injured next week, I'll struggle to fill the bench. That's where we are.

"He started the game well, put a few good crosses in, and went off the boil. I credit that to his injury. He didn't look right, he wasn't moving right.

"He spoke to Hayesy and Hayesy gave the signal he's struggling. It's a common sense decision: if one of your players is struggling, get him off and get someone on who can give you 100 per cent.

"Dynamic players do tend to pick up a lot more injuries. Paris is very dynamic.

"We'll assess that and see where he is in the week. He's a big player in my squad and hopefully we can get him back fit as quickly as possible."