There are several Premier League managers anxiously checking on their players following last night’s international at Wembley. Chris Smalling, Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard all suffered injuries which saw them withdrawn from action as England slipped to last gasp 3-2 defeat to Holland.
Smalling’s situation looks the most worrying. The United defender was stretchered from the field on 64 minutes following a clash of heads with Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar and caretaker England boss Stuart Pearce confirmed that Smalling had been taken to hospital following the incident…
Chris Smalling has a really bad gash on his head and went to hospital…I spoke with him and he was conscious. Our thoughts are with him and I am hoping that he will be fine.
He will clearly be a doubt for United’s trip to White Hart Lane on Sunday. Smalling was on the bench at Norwich last time out, though, suggesting he was by no means a certainty to start at the Lane this weekend.
According to Pearce, Daniel Sturridge suffered a toe injury which saw him forced off just before the end. There are few details as yet on this injury, although the Telegraph have raised the alarm somewhat by suggesting that there are fears that Sturridge may have sustained a fracture. Chelsea visit the Hawthorns on Saturday and Sturridge will be an obvious concern for Andre Villas-Boas ahead of what is likely to be a stern test given the form of Roy Hodgson’s side.
Gerrard was also a concern- a tight hamstring saw him withdrawn after 33 minutes as a precaution, with Pearce’s post-match comments certainly more encouraging:
Steven was just feeling a little bit tight so we took him off as a precautionary (measure) on the grounds we were only going to play him for 45 minutes anyway.
Kenny Dalglish confirmed this morning that his skipper has yet to be assessed, however, and was typically blunt in his appraisal of the situation:
If I don’t know what it is, I can’t tell you whether there is every chance or no chance (of Gerrard facing Arsenal), so rather than speculate it’s best for us to just wait and see what the medical people have to say once they’ve seen him.
The Liverpool boss revealed he expects Daniel Agger to be sidelined for “maybe a few weeks” after confirming the Dane fractured a rib in Sunday’s Carling Cup Final with Cardiff.
Papiss Demba Cisse is on course to recover from a groin problem ahead of Sunday’s home clash with Sunderland. The Newcastle forward – who has scored in both his home games so far- was subbed off last weekend against Wolves with the injury and hasn’t trained since but Newcastle assistant boss John Carver is optimistic over the forward’s chances of featuring against the Black Cats.
He should be okay. He had a problem with his groin, he hasn’t trained yet. He didn’t train on Wednesday and I think the fortunate thing is that we have the extra day with the game being on Sunday. But fingers crossed he should be OK.
Martin O’Neill, on the other hand, is fretting over the fitness of Phil Bardsley for the trip to the Sports Direct Arena. The full-back picked up a calf injury in last weeks 4-0 defeat at West Brom and pulled out of international duties with Scotland this week. Bardsley is considered a major doubt, meaning Craig Gardner could drop into right-back or, alternatively, John O’Shea may shift from the heart of the back-four, with fit-again Matt Kilgallon coming in alongside Michael Turner.
In midfield, O’Neill is expected to welcome back David Vaughan. The former Blackpool man turned out for Wales in last night’s loss to Costa Rica and has now recovered from a foot injury that has forced him out of Sunderland’s last four league games. Vaughan had previously been an integral part of O’Neill’s side, having started the first eight games of the Irishman’s tenure, grabbing a couple of goals in the process.
Brede Hangeland is a doubt for Fulham this weekend after missing Norway’s 3-0 win over Northern Ireland last night. The centre-half has played every minute of the season so far for Martin Jol’s men and with (WOL, SWA, NOR) to come in the next five gameweeks, his Fantasy owners will be anxiously awaiting Jol’s press conference tomorrow.
