The pair both started in our big 5-0 FA Cup win over the League Two Shrimps, which came courtesy of a brace each from Tosin and Joao Felix and a further strike from Christopher Nkunku.

James and Lavia both impressed in their first-half cameos, before being replaced at the break by Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella respectively, which Maresca confirmed was the plan so not to overload the returning duo following injury spells.

‘It was great to see both of them start the game, for sure,’ Maresca said of James and Lavia.

‘For Reece and for Romeo it was just to protect them and the idea was for them to only play 45 minutes. Hopefully, we can start from there and build some physical condition and allow them to be with us for the rest of the season.

‘The idea is to build their condition slowly, especially with Reece as we need to be a little bit more careful. The good thing is they have both played 45 minutes and they both finished well with no problems. Hopefully, we can start to help them build the right condition.’

Meanwhile the head coach also confirmed that Noni Madueke’s absence was due to illness, picked up in the final training session before Morecambe’s visit.

‘Noni was ill on Friday,’ Maresca confirmed. ‘He didn’t finish the session because he was unwell and that is why [he wasn’t involved].’