With the FA Cup Fourth Round set to kick off later tonight, there’s been plenty of press conferences taking place over the past 24 hours. Here’s the main news from the managers so far…
Kevin de Bruyne took to social media last night to confirm he will be sidelined “for around 10 weeks” with the knee injury that forced him off during Man City’s 3-1 cup win over Everton on Wednesday evening.
Francis Coquelin and Tomas Rosicky are both available for Arsenal’s clash with Burnley tomorrow – Arsene Wenger has revealed new boy Mohamed Elneny could be handed his first start, though he’s yet to make a decision on Coquelin. Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla are still “a few weeks away” from returning, though Danny Welbeck “needs a game or two” with the reserves to improve his fitness. Per Mertesacker serves out a one-match suspension after his red card against Chelsea.
Mark Noble is a slight doubt for West Ham’s trip to Liverpool tomorrow due to illness. Slaven Bilic has also revealed that James Tomkins is back in training, whilst Andy Carroll could be back playing in ten days’ time. Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho, meanwhile, are expected to return in a fortnight. New boy Sam Byram is cup-tied for the Anfield encounter, whilst Bilic has conceded that the club are waiting on the outcome of Carl Jenkinson’s visit to a specialist amid fears he could be sidelined for the season with a knee injury.
Geoff Cameron remains sidelined for Stoke’s trip to Crystal Palace tomorrow afternoon. Marko Arnautovic is set to be assessed ahead of the Selhurst Park clash after picking up a knock in Tuesday’s cup encounter with Liverpool, whilst Charlie Adam has been ruled out for five-to-six weeks with a calf complaint. Mark Hughes has some good news, though, after revealing that the Potters skipper Ryan Shawcross could be back quicker than the expected three-to-four-week absence:
“Ryan is quite positive at the moment actually, he feels a lot better within himself and the area of the injury seems to be settling down. Initially we said he would be out for up to a month at the most, but we hopefully he will be back sooner.”
Fit-again Michael Carrick is set to return for United’s clash with Derby, though won’t play from start to finish after recently recovering from injury. Matteo Darmian remains unavailable after being forced off against Southampton last weekend, whilst Louis van Gaal is reluctant to put a time scale on the return of Phil Jones and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Bournemouth skipper Tommy Elphick is set to return to first-team action against Portsmouth tomorrow. The centre-half had stepped up his recovery with a run-out for the reserves earlier this week. Eddie Howe has revealed that Junior Stanislas misses out and “might not be fit for next week”, though scans have confirmed the winger’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared.
Tony Pulis is unlikely to make too many changes for West Brom’s clash with Peterborough, with the Baggies boss set to pick “a strong team” for tomorrow’s encounter at the Hawthorns. Pulis also revealed he is looking to acquire QPR midfielder Sandro on loan, though the deal has yet to be completed.
Alan Pardew has conceded that new Palace signing Emmanuel Adebayor won’t be fit to start against Stoke tomorrow. Connor Wickham has been hit with a heavy fine by the Eagles boss for his elbow on Jan Vertonghen last weekend – the FA are imminently expected to confirm the forward’s ban for violent conduct.
James McCarthy, Seamus Coleman and Tom Cleverley all came through Everton’s cup clash with City without any problems and are available to face Carlisle on Sunday. Kevin Mirallas’ injury isn’t as bad as first expected, with the winger set to undergo a late fitness test ahead of the weekend.
