Wayne Rooney is a doubt for United due to illness and a groin problem. Phil Jagielka is likely to return for Everton’s clash with Man City, though Sylvain Distin is doubtful. Felix Magath has concerns over Steve Sidwell ahead of the crunch clash with Stoke. Newcastle’s Luuk de Jong is available for selection ahead of the Cardiff encounter. Leandro Bacuna returns for Aston Villa, though Joe Bennett remains a doubt. Arsenal rule out an injured trio for the visit of West Brom, whilst Bacary Sagna is a worry due to a knee problem:
Wayne Rooney will be assessed over the next 24 hours as he struggles to overcome a bug and a tight groin problem. Ryan Giggs has revealed “a few of the lads have had a bug”, and is undecided on Robin Van Persie, going on to say “Whether tomorrow is too early we’ll just see how he goes today”.
Roberto Martinez has revealed that Sylvain Distin has returned to training, with a late decision set to be made on the Frenchman’s availability against Man City. Phil Jagielka is in contention to feature, with Martinez “quite confident” the skipper will be in the squad, whilst the Toffees boss has allayed injury fears for Leighton Baines, stressing that the left-back will be fine to feature at the weekend. Steven Pienaar remains sidelined, though Martinez is hopeful the South African will make a return before the end of the season.
Steve Sidwell is Felix Magath’s main injury concern ahead of the crucial meeting with Stoke at the weekend, after the midfielder came off against Hull with a knock last week. Magath has no other injury worries, and could welcome back Kostas Mitroglou to the squad, after confirming the striker had trained all week.
Newcastle will welcome back loan-signing Luuk de Jong into the squad to face Cardiff this weekend, with the forward having recovered from an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Alan Pardew revealed that Hatem Ben Arfa was not involved in training with the main group, casting doubt over the attacker’s game time as the season draws to a close.
Leandro Bacuna has recovered from the virus that forced him off at half-time against Swansea last week, and is available for selection ahead of Villa’s clash with Hull. Joe Bennett though, remains a doubt with an ankle injury.
Arsenal are expected to have the same squad from the win over Newcastle when they take on West Brom at the weekend, with Arsene Wenger ruling out out Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere. Although the left-back has returned to training, his manager admits he will be “a bit short” for Sunday, whilst no time-scale has been put on the returns of Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Bacary Sagna is rated as 50-50 after picking up a knee problem.
Chelsea midfielder Oscar has admitted that his absence on the pitch in recent weeks is down to a hip injury. The Brazilian is wary of exacerbating the injury and risk missing the World Cup, though hopes to feature in the final game of the season against Cardiff.
All this and more has now been updated in the Team News section ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Keep an eye on our official Twitter Stream as breaking news unfolds.
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