International breaks are the bane of a Fantasy manager’s life. Every day we brace ourselves for reports of withdrawals and possible injury scares and today is no exception. Marouane Fellaini has picked up a knee problem, Robert Snodgrass and Romelu Lukaku both have ankle worries, while Winston Reid awaits results of a back scan…
Reports suggest Marouane Fellaini could be set to miss the next three weeks with a knee problem. The midfielder is said to have picked up the injury in last Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Wigan and has since undergone scans with the Belgium medics – he is now out of his nation’s upcoming games and would be regarded as a real doubt for the Toffees Gameweek 8 trip to QPR if the initial prognosis proves correct.
There is now a wash of reports following the breaking news late last night but Everton are yet to comment on the story, which was published initially on the Belgian FA website. Any confirmed absence would surely prompt significant sales across the Fantasy games. Fellaini has risen to 7.3 from 6.5 in FPL after grabbing three goals in the first five Gameweeks – owned by over 31% of Fantasy managers, he has a strong upcoming schedule which could afford plenty opportunity to rack up the points should be overcome the problem in time for the Loftus Road clash on Sunday October 21.
Robert Snodgrass has been ruled out of the Scotland squad due to an ankle problem. The injury was kept under wraps at the weekend –an unused sub for the game at Chelsea due to the problem, Snodgrass’ omission was generally assumed to be tactical. Having started the Canaries’ first six games this season, the former Leeds man has been a crucial component of Chris Hughton’s first-team – today’s news at least eased fears that he has become prone to rotation under the new manager.
Goran Popov has again reiterated his desire to nail down the left-back role for West Brom. The on-loan defender revealed yesterday:
“I want more than a year. My future is here, I don’t want to go back. So for me it is important now to play and show that I am good enough to stay in English football. I would like to stay here after this year. This is my future and I am thinking like that. That’s why I came here. If I wanted to be back in Kiev I wouldn’t have come here. I came here because I know I can play here. We have spoken about it and the club have said if I do well here this year I can sign for one or two years more.”
Popov has stepped in for the injured Liam Ridgewell over the last couple of matches but the former Birmingham is now afforded the fortnight international break to recover in time for the Gameweek 8 home showdown with City. Having been handed a first-team opportunity, Popov is likely to find out where he stands in the pecking order if Ridgewell returns to fitness – while the Macedonian’s cheaper cost is more appealing from Fantasy perspective, he’s likely to be hard pushed to keep Ridgewell out of Steve Clarke’s starting line-up.
Elsewhere for the Baggies, Romelu Lukaku has pulled out of the Belgium squad ahead of the upcoming internationals. The forward, who made his sixth sub appearance of the season in the weekend win over QPR, has sustained an ankle problem.
Winston Reid has delayed heading off on international duty with New Zealand as he awaits the results of back scans. The centre-half suffered muscle spasms during the Hammers’ 3-1 defeat against Arsenal on Saturday evening – James Tomkins stepped off the bench to replace the Kiwi in Gameweek 6 and would be set to step in if Reid has suffered any injury.
