The pre-match press conferences for Blank Gameweek 28 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) have begun to take place.
As usual, we’ll be bringing you all the key quotes and injury updates that you need for your teams over the coming 24 hours or so.
Six Premier League bosses held pressers on Thursday, while Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cooper was quick off the mark with a Wednesday media briefing.
As many as seven more Gameweek 28 pre-match press conferences are set to come on Friday. For the latest on those sides, check out our early team news summary.
Half a dozen clubs – Manchester United, Manchester United, Liverpool, Fulham, West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion – are without a Premier League fixture this weekend due to the clash with the FA Cup quarter-finals.
KEY UPDATES FROM THURSDAY
- Tottenham Hotspur: No new worries, Emerson back in training
- Newcastle United: Gordon remains out
- Leicester City: Setback for Evans
- Nottingham Forest: Johnson “unlikely” to feature
- Everton: Calvert-Lewin set to miss out again, Patterson latest
- Brentford: Janelt and Ajer out
- Leeds United: Adams out, Cooper fit
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Antonio Conte said that Spurs had “no new injuries” ahead of the trip to Southampton, albeit with the caveat that there is another training session still to come.
Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Hugo Lloris (knee) and Yves Bissouma (ankle) all remain on the medium-to-long-term injury list but Emerson Royal (knock) has rejoined training after missing last Saturday’s clash with Nottingham Forest.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Anthony Gordon (ankle) and Emil Krafth (knee) remain out, while Joelinton serves the second match of a two-game ban.
In his pre-match presser, Eddie Howe perhaps ominously warned about “knocks” and some players missing training this week.
“Similar to last week – we’ve got a couple of knocks. Intense game last week, really intense physically, so we’ve been managing and nursing a few players. We’ll wait and see who’s fit.
“Nothing major, hopefully. A few players have missed training this week but we hope to have the majority of players available.” – Eddie Howe
Howe added that even a Gameweek 29 appearance for Gordon will be a tough ask.
“That’s the plan [to get Gordon back for Gameweek 29]. We’re trying. The scan wasn’t plain sailing, it wasn’t a shoo-in. It wasn’t a week or two injury.
“It’s slightly more serious than that, so we’re doing everything we can to get him back as quickly as possible. At the moment he’s in a period where he’s staying off the grass, staying off his feet, and the injury’s healing. It feels good, but he’s got work to do to get ready for that game.” – Eddie Howe
The Newcastle boss made an uncharacteristic five changes to his starting XI last weekend, including benching Miguel Almiron and recalling Alexander Isak, and discussed his rotation on Thursday.
“I think it’s vital that you have the opportunity to do that from time to time. It’s a long season with cups and Premier League etc, and also the way that we play is demanding, as I’ve said before. We ask a lot of our players physically, so it’s nice to be able to pull someone back, give them a chance to reset and then bring them back into the team.
“Everyone will have their own opinions, of course, on the team, and when you bring a player out for their own physical needs, sometimes that can be over-hyped. But for me, it’s just a natural process of the season.
“As I said before [Isak] got the concussion, he was in really, really good form in training and I was desperate to see him execute that on the pitch, and I felt he did that against Wolves. I thought he was outstanding in every respect. Physically he was very very good, technically very good, and his goal… I still enjoy watching that even now, a week after. Hopefully it’s the start of a really good run for him.
“I think he’s a different player to anyone we have in the squad. He has really good versatility to his game – I think he could do a bit of everything, which is a great asset for us to have in our frontline. I think he brings a different dimension, but every player has their own strengths and uniqueness which makes the team slightly different.” – Eddie Howe
LEICESTER CITY
Brendan Rodgers said that Victor Kristiansen (ankle) “maybe” won’t be fit enough to face Brentford on Saturday, despite his call-up by Denmark.
Jonny Evans, who made the bench last weekend, is a “wait and see” after having had a setback in his recovery.
“Victor maybe won’t make it. We’re hoping he might be close but he might miss this one.
“We’ll have to see [on Evans], there’s a doubt around him. Hopefully [he’ll be okay] for the weekend, if not, hopefully not too long after that.
“Apart from that, everyone has trained and trained well and those who were available for previous games are okay.” – Brendan Rodgers
Wout Faes is suspended, while Youri Tielemans (ankle), James Justin (Achilles) and Sammy Braybrooke (knee) remain out.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Steve Cooper said that Brennan Johnson (groin) was “unlikely” to face Newcastle on Friday, although he didn’t completely rule out the prospect of that happening and we know from experience that Cooper can be economical with the truth.
“He’s had his scan. Obviously when you have a scan, it tells you something, but obviously you have to treat the player. It’s unlikely that Brennan will be involved at the weekend but there is a small chance so we want to give him every chance to see if he’s available. If he is, then great, we’ll try and use him. If not, then it’s just one of them things.
“We’re not completely ruling him out but at the same time, when you walk off with a bit of a muscle injury it can take a little bit longer than a week to recover. But we’ll see.” – Steve Cooper on Brennan Johnson, speaking on Wednesday
Loanee Chris Wood is both ineligible to face his parent club and indeed injured, while Willy Boly (hamstring), Scott McKenna (hamstring), Dean Henderson (thigh), Giulian Biancone (ACL) and Omar Richards (leg) remain unavailable.
Wayne Hennessey (knee) will have a fresh problem assessed but Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring) should be closer to involvement after a recent return to training. Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) has also been seen on the grass but it’s not known how much team training, if any, he has done.
EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring), absent from team training on Friday, looks set to miss the Chelsea game this weekend – and a return in Gameweek 29 isn’t even assured.
“We’re still monitoring the situation, being careful, he’s being careful with his body. We’re trying to give him every opportunuty. He wasn’t overly in my thinking for the Chelsea game regardless of anything else because obviously the international window comes and you can use that even more wisely.
“He’s just felt something that we’ve had to be careful with, that’s all, because we’re trying to get him as strong as he was two years ago.
“We’ll see [if he can be fit for Gameweek 29].” – Sean Dyche
Andros Townsend (ACL) remains unavailable but Nathan Patterson (knee) could be back in the matchday squad after his recent lay-off.
“In and around it. We’re getting that competitive group back together again.” – Sean Dyche on Nathan Patterson and James Garner
BRENTFORD
Vitaly Janelt (knee) and Kristoffer Ajer (calf) have joined Keane Lewis-Potter (knee) and Thomas Strakosha (ankle) in being ruled out of the Leicester game, while Mads Roerslev (hamstring) is “touch and go”.
“We still need more assessment for Vitaly Janelt, who we had to sub off [against Southampton]. The thing we can say is that he will not be available for Saturday, so we need more [time] to see exactly what the injury is.” – Thomas Frank
LEEDS UNITED
Tyler Adams (hamstring), Adam Forshaw (hip) and Stuart Dallas (knee) are on the sidelines but Liam Cooper (muscle) is fit again after a month on the sidelines.
“Tyler is injured. At this moment, he’s with a specialist and we will see how long he is out of the team.
“Liam has been out of the team for some time, now he is with the team. He can do many things on the pitch but he is very important out of the pitch. His personality can help us in this moment. He’s ready.” – Javi Gracia
1 year, 2 months agoCaptain:
A. Kane(sou)
B. Saka(CRY)
C. Toney(LEI)