Wouter Burger and Ali Al-Hamadi injury latest as Stoke City manager issues update
Wouter Burger and Ali Al-Hamadi injury latest as Stoke City manager issues update
Stoke City are hoping for a double injury boost as they prepare to take on Watford. They are back at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday (3pm) and tasked with producing a much better performance than in a mid-week 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough, when they were booed off after missing the chance to extend the gap between themselves and the Championship bottom three.
Wouter Burger (knee) and Ali Al-Hamadi (groin) both remain doubts. Burger has missed the last two matches after limping off in the closing stages of a win over Swansea while Al-Hamadi was helped off in last weekend’s loss at Norwich.
Both sound like they will be late calls and it would be a boost for manager Mark Robins if he was able to include them in his match day squad.
The manager said: “(Ali)’s got an injury he picked up I presume on Saturday, but he might have had it a little bit earlier than that. He’s got a little bit of an injury but we’re hoping that he’s going to be ok, the same for Wouter. Wouter’s not far away either.”
Stoke’s treatment room has gradually been clearing, and Eric Bocat made his first appearance under Robins when he came off the bench on Tuesday night. The left-back has been sidelined since injuring a calf in the warm-up to the win over Sunderland in late December.
Sam Gallagher continued his comeback from a hamstring injury with a cameo against Middlesbrough – having also been used as a sub at Norwich. The 29-year-old striker has only been able to start three league matches so far this term and Stoke are keen to do everything possible to keep him fit for longer this time around.
Ben Wilmot and Million Manhoef have just made their first starts since mid-January and mid-December respectively. Wilmot was used at right-back in place of Junior Tchamadeu and could be an option in the middle after Michael Rose was withdrawn in the closing stages.
Ben Pearson’s game time is still being managed after 11 months out. He has started against Swansea and Norwich but was back on the bench against Middlesbrough, where he came on in the second half.
Jordan Thompson and Bosun Lawal are also available if Robins wants to shake up midfield. Thompson has also just returned from injury, a groin problem which eventually led to surgery in January while Lawal has come through run-outs for the under-21s to build up his sharpness having missed much of the campaign so far with a back injury.
Ben Gibson, Sol Sidibe, Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Lynden Gooch remain on the injury list as well as Ryan Mmaee, who is hoping to come into Robins’ plans soon after returning from a loan at Rapid Vienna when he picked up a hamstring injury. Mmaee hasn’t played since Stoke won at Plymouth back in August.
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