Four Premier League pre-match press conferences were held on Thursday as the countdown to Gameweek 4 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) continues.
We’ve got all the injury updates, team news and key manager quotes in this summary.
As well as the four managers speaking to the media today, 16 more will follow on Friday and we’ll be bringing you a round-up of those pressers in another piece tomorrow.
KEY UPDATES
- Leeds United: Bamford may not be risked; Leeds after another striker
- Leicester City: Maddison a doubt; Fofana not available
- Southampton: Perraud back in training
- Bournemouth: Solanke could return
LEEDS UNITED
Stuart Dallas (leg), Luke Ayling (knee) and Junior Firpo (knee) remain absent, while Jesse Marsch’s pre-match quotes seemed to suggest that Patrick Bamford (adductor) wouldn’t be ready for the trip to Brighton.
“Junior, Luke, we think that they will be in training next week. Stuart is still months away but working really hard.
“The big question mark is Patrick Bamford. We think he’s doing well and moving forward. I think also with the performances of the team, it allows us to be patient, but we will still have a call to make for exactly what it means for this weekend. We want to put him in the best position possible to physically be ready to pick up where he left off.” – Jesse Marsch
Rodrigo’s place up top looks settled for now with Bamford expected to miss out but Marsch did confirm that Leeds were active in the transfer market for another striker.
“Striker, yes. How likely it is… again it’s dependent on how things play out and what availability there is of players. We certainly don’t have big amounts of money to go out and spend and bring in a huge transfer. But I think we’ve done a good job of evaluating players that are of high interest to us.” – Jesse Marsch
LEICESTER CITY
James Maddison is a doubt for Leicester’s clash with Chelsea after feeling a “twinge” in training.
“We’ve got an issue around James Maddison. We’ll see how that is tomorrow (Friday). Hopefully he’ll be okay but that would be the only doubt. He just a felt a twinge yesterday when he was training so we’ll have to see what that looks like tomorrow.” – Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers also confirmed that Wesley Fofana wouldn’t be available for selection, as his protracted move to Stamford Bridge drags on for another week.
“He won’t be available for the weekend, he has trained with our under-23 squad.” – Brendan Rodgers on Wesley Fofana
SOUTHAMPTON
Tino Livramento (knee) is a long-term absentee but Romain Perraud (leg) has been back in training this week, with assessment to follow ahead of the weekend visit of Manchester United.
“Romain is back in training, this is good to see because he was out with groin problems and now today it looked good. He wasn’t ready for the cup game so we try to give him a good session on Tuesday.
“He trained today, trained good, and now we will see for the weekend if he is ready for this.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl on Romain Perraud
There were more questions about Che Adams‘ form and future, with Hasenhuttl confirming that the plan was for the striker to stay on the south coast.
“He’s good in the moment, he scores goals, he’s on fire.
“You need a game like this one [v Leicester in Gameweek 3], where you step in and score two goals, win the game. Suddenly everything looks nicer, easier, and you are full of self-confidence.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl on Che Adams
BOURNEMOUTH
Joe Rothwell (thigh), Ryan Fredericks (match fitness), Junior Stanislas (groin) and David Brooks (match fitness) are all still sidelined for the trip to Liverpool.
Dominic Solanke (ankle) will train on Friday, however, and could “be an option” in Gameweek 4.
“Dominic Solanke will train with us tomorrow for the first time, full training. So hopefully, if he comes through that can be an option for us at the weekend.” – Scott Parker
Jamal Lowe is also back in training after illness forced him to pull out of the Cherries’ starting XI in the EFL Cup clash at Norwich in midweek.
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