STEVEN Schumacher is hopeful that Wanderers fans will now see the best of Jay Matete after his return from suspension against Crawley today.

Suspended for violent conduct for the last three games by the Football Association, the on-loan Sunderland midfielder comes back into the equation with perfect timing, as George Thomason misses the next two games with his own ban for 10 yellow cards.

Schumacher knows all about Matete, having worked with him at Plymouth Argyle, and believes the 23-year-old will be itching to make up for his indiscretion to the Bolton fans.

“Jay won’t have enjoyed missing the last three games,” the head coach told The Bolton News. “The odd incident was what it was – but he has definitely paid the price for it.

“He will have a point to prove now. He knows what I expect from him and everyone else in the team, so it might even give him a little head start on some of the non-negotiables that I expect and how I like to work. I’m very hopeful that we will now see the best of him in the run-in.”

With Thomason unavailable, Schumacher will have to alter the balance of his midfield against a Crawley side that has dominated possession in most of their games thus far in League One.

Matete has flitted between a holding ‘number six’ role and a more traditional number eight under Ian Evatt this season, making 32 appearances and scoring twice.

Schumacher reckons the players’ versatility has come in handy in the past.

“I have used him in different roles,” he said. “So when we took Jay – and he made his debut here against Bolton – we used him as a 10 and he got around the single pivot, which was Aaron Morley, and stopped him getting on the ball.

“Jay's best strength is he regains the ball for you high up the pitch, and when he receives the ball closer to the opposition goal, he's got some quality.

“He chipped in with a couple of really important goals for us at Plymouth in that run-in when we won the league, so he's a good player.

“I also played him as a double pivot in certain games when we felt we were going to be in control of the ball, which he's capable of doing.

“He's an all-round midfield player, I would say, that can do a little bit of everything, which is good, and he's a player in the squad that I know and I can trust, and I think he'll do a great job for us.”

Crawley’s unique style could place extra emphasis on Wanderers’ ability to win the ball back this afternoon – and Schumacher is keen to see his side play on the front foot, as they did for long spells last weekend at Reading.

“Some of the early messages we gave the players were to try and be positive, always try and threaten the back line where we can. Now, I obviously want the team to have a possession-based style, that's what this team and this squad have been used to, and we've got some really good players that can control possession, but we just explained that it doesn't always have to be in 15-20 pass sequences.

“If we can regain the ball and get at the opposition straight away, then let's do that.”