The League Two side forced a replay in the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round and the two sides will meet again at Blundell Park with a tie against Premier League outfit Southampton awaiting the winner.
In amongst an already congested fixture list, Edwards is happy he has plenty of options to call upon.
“I’m really lucky because we’ve got a really good squad that is really competitive and there has been some very good performances individually recently and team performances as well, Edwards said in his pre-match press conference. “You want to try and keep that rhythm going but at the same time you’ve just come back of the three difficult games.
“We’ve got this one now which I recognise is a very difficult game and a really big game that we value. Then we have a really tough week next week with three important league games again. We have to manage the group as best as possible but at the same time the message is the same – we want to win the game.”
He also added: “Saturday is the first time I had to leave people out of the squad who are fit. There is real competition now, we can have nine subs, we have some people that were involved on Saturday that are ineligible.
“There will be changes to the overall squad, no doubt, because there has to be. Real competition though and that is what you want at this stage. There are games coming thick and fast, people who are chomping at the bit and difficult decisions which is great for me.”
Edwards has ruled out the possibility of captain Sonny Bradley and midfielder Henri Lansbury being involved but shared a positive update on their progress.
“He (Sonny Bradley) is out on the grass, he’s not trained with the boys yet, but he’s progressing nicely. We don’t want to put too much pressure on him at the moment, but he’s out there now, he’s running, he’s kicking balls, he’s moving in a different directions, so he’s getting closer and closer.
“It is still a bit too soon for H, he’s not far off at all, but it’s only been less than a week of proper full training with the squad. We’re dead keen to get him back of course, but we’ve got to make sure that we do things right, he’s doing well, doing really well, but we don’t want to then push him and he breaks down and that won’t be the case, we’ll make sure we get it right.”
