Alan Curbishley insisted the £6.1 million signing is not quite fully fit yet and will have to settle for a place on the bench.
Curbs told the official site, "He has been out for a long while but we will see what this week brings.
"He has joined in training the last couple of weeks and some of the players hadn't seen him. He's come into training and they have had a good look at him and they have all been asking 'when's he going to be fit?'
"It was probably a little bit too early on Saturday but I decided to give it a go because I felt if he got 20 minutes he could change the game. I have got to be a little bit careful with him."