Well thank GOODNESS for that – the most painful international break of the season is over, and we’re just over 24 hours away from getting back to the action.
Enzo Maresca has just had his press conference, and there was actually some football talk, imagine that! The important questions, as ever, are injury related, and we got some team news updates for tomorrow. It’s going much as expected, and much as our writer Simon Phillips reported yesterday:
Romeo Lavia, who picked up a minor issue before our game against Wolves late last month, is still out. But Maresca had positive words:
“Romeo is very close, hopefully for the next game. Unfortunately he needs more time.”
It’s the same story with our other absentees – close, but no cigar. Malo Gusto won’t be ready after tweaking something towards the end of our last game.
“Malo is still out. He is not available for tomorrow’s game,” the coach explained.
Reece James’ name was mentioned in the question about Lavia, but we didn’t get an answer on him. We assume he’s still out, and a bodged solution will be needed at right back given he and Gusto will miss the game.
Minor injuries, major frustrations
Compared to our last few seasons, this is a light injury load. It’s just frustrating that two of the players out are in the same position.
Lavia’s situation is also a little worrying. After missing the whole of last season, we knew this was going to be a slow road back, but missing what will be a full month by the time he’s back, after just a minor issue, is very frustrating as it sets him back a long way in terms of fitness, and delays the whole team in terms of making progress as a unit.