There is plenty to dissect on the injury front ahead of Gameweek 9 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with Premier League and FPL managers alike having to deal with various fitness issues picked up over the international break.
We’ll be covering all of the team news quotes from the Premier League press conferences being held over the next two days, starting with this round-up of Thursday’s media gatherings.
Just four managers faced reporters today, with the other 16 bosses set to fulfill their obligatory duties on Friday.
Away from the press conferences, Thursday also brought news that Emile Smith Rowe would be ruled out until December after having groin surgery.
KEY UPDATES
- Tottenham Hotspur: Conte on Lloris/Kulusevski: “We have to wait”
- Everton: Patterson out for 4-5 weeks, Pickford fit
- Bournemouth: Pearson, Rothwell and Kelly still out
- Brentford: Pinnock nearing a return
PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES:
CLUB-BY-CLUB GUIDE
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Antonio Conte gave little away on the team news front when asked about Spurs’ fitness latest ahead of the north London derby.
Hugo Lloris pulled out of the France squad over the last fortnight with a thigh problem, while reports on Thursday morning suggest that Dejan Kulusevski is a big doubt because of a hamstring issue.
Conte, however, wouldn’t give us concrete news on either player – or anyone else, for that matter.
“We have to wait, we have to wait till tomorrow to check some players because they returned from their national teams with some physical problems. Tomorrow’s last training session will be very important to understand the players that we can count [on]. At the moment, we have to wait.
“Honestly I don’t want to speak about the injuries because I don’t want to give advantage to Arsenal. But for sure we have to face some problems, some physical problems and we have to know also that we have just started to play the first game in a run that we have to play 13 games in 43 days. For sure we have to try to make the best solution and not take big risks. If we were to take big risks and lose players for the rest of the games, it will be a disaster. I repeat: to play with three games I need to count on the whole squad.” – Antonio Conte
Conte at least acknowledged that Kulusevski had a problem in another comment, perhaps hinting that the Swede wouldn’t be involved this weekend – and suggesting that it wasn’t a given that Richarlison comes straight into the starting XI:
“For sure [playing three central midfielders] can be a good option because we have midfielders who are good also to play as a three. Bissouma when he came in against Leicester played well and he is really well integrated with Pierre and Bentancur. Yeah, this could be an option, not only for tomorrow but also for the future because if we need to give rest to other players, especially when you have this type of situation that happened with Kulusevski having this injury, it can be an option.” – Antonio Conte
Speaking to in-house media in a separate interview, Conte also confirmed that Lloris was one of the players who was set to be assessed:
“Hugo is one of the players with some physical problems, but we hope to see him on Saturday.” – Antonio Conte
Ben Davies (knee) and Lucas Moura (tendon) had been expected to be close to fitness after the September international break but again, there was no word from Conte on either player.
Elsewhere, Conte briefly discussed Son Heung-min‘s set-piece responsibilities after the winger scored a rasping free-kick for his national team in the last week.
“Son is one of the three players who have the task to take set pieces. We have him, Harry and Eric Dier. For sure now he has great confidence because he scored but already before he was one of these three players.” – Antonio Conte
EVERTON
The Toffees announced yesterday that Nathan Patterson will miss the next four to five weeks with the knee injury he picked up while playing for Scotland over the September international break.
The young full-back joins Mason Holgate (knee), Andros Townsend (knee), Yerry Mina (ankle) and Ben Godfrey (leg) on the sidelines for the trip to Southampton.
“It’s a blow for us all because he’s been fantastic. His level of performance has been great.
“The four-to-five week estimate is probably more positive than what our first thoughts were. Let’s hope we can get him back quickly.” – Frank Lampard on Nathan Patterson
Jordan Pickford is available after recovering from a thigh injury but Lampard was cautious when asked if the fit-again Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be involved in the squad this weekend.
“We’re considering it. Dominic, we’re working to make sure he comes back in the best fitness and strength for us. We’ll see on that one.” – Frank Lampard
BOURNEMOUTH
Lloyd Kelly (ankle) remains sidelined for Bournemouth’s match against Brentford, with no timeframe put on his return.
Joe Rothwell (thigh) and Ben Pearson (knee) are “getting real close” to returning, while Ryan Fredericks (unspecified) is making “big improvements” – although it wasn’t abundantly clear whether caretaker boss Gary O’Neil was completely ruling all three out of this weekend’s fixture.
David Brooks had been on the cusp of a return from a length lay-off after fighting cancer but suffered hamstring discomfort in an academy game a month ago and took a step back with this rehabilitation.
BRENTFORD
Christian Norgaard (Achilles) is still “weeks away” from being fit, while Keane Lewis-Potter is unavailable to face Bournemouth this weekend due to an ankle/foot ligament issue picked up with the England under-21s.
Ethan Pinnock is on the cusp of a return, however: the defender has recovered from a knee injury he picked up in pre-season and featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Reading last week.
Thomas Frank did suggest that the centre-half wouldn’t start just yet, however, indicating that he would only feature if the Bees were short of options at the back.
