Stoke City striker suffers injury set-back after Mark Robins misgivings
Stoke City striker suffers injury set-back after Mark Robins misgivings
Ali Al-Hamadi has withdrawn from the Iraq national squad amid concerns about his fitness.
The Stoke City striker, on loan from Ipswich Town, had originally been called up to feature in World Cup qualifiers with Kuwait and Palestine.
This came amid fears that he had suffered an injury in the Potters’ heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Millwall last time out, fears that saw him withdrawn after an hour.
At one point it looked as though the 23-year-old would have to come off after ten minutes, with Sam Gallagher sent out to warm up. However, he remained on the pitch but was unable to help Stoke avoid the loss at the New Den.
The Iraq set-up confirmed the move on X and said: “Wishing you a speedy recovery, Alawi’”
Speaking after the match Stoke boss Mark Robins admitted Al-Hamadi’s fitness was a concern and that he wanted to protect all of his players from injuries ahead of the Championship run-in.
“You could see that he wasn’t as sharp as he is normally. Ali’s fighting against the tide really, if you’ve not played for that length of time, 90 minutes, you’ve got to try and build it up and I think that’s in his head.
“He needs to just forget about that and just concentrate on being as sharp as he possibly can in the games, for as long as he possibly can, which will then lead to really good 90 minute performances eventually.”
Al-Hamadi joined Stoke in the January transfer window after Tom Cannon was recalled by Leicester City and then sold to Sheffield United. Since then he has scored twice in eight Championship appearances. Robins will hope he recovers in time to face QPR on Saturday week.
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