Gameweek 21 is not over yet but already the pre-match press conferences for Gameweek 22 have begun.
Four managers faced the media on Thursday, with the headline team news from these pressers in the article below.
GAMEWEEK 22 TEAM NEWS: THURSDAY’S INJURY UPDATES
- West Ham United: Potter hopeful on Summerville, Areola expected to remain out
- Brentford: No change to Bees’ team news, Frank on Mbeumo’s future
- Fulham: Tete + Nelson still out, Berge returns, everyone else available
- Leicester City: No new injuries, Edouard returns, Coulibaly latest
WEST HAM UNITED
Graham Potter hopes that Crysencio Summerville will recover from a hamstring injury to face Crystal Palace on Saturday, although the winger is still a doubt.
Summerville missed the Gameweek 21 win over Fulham having hobbled out of the FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa a week ago.
“We’re still waiting a little bit on Cry. We’ll probably have to make a late decision. The game might come too soon, but we’ll see. There is still a bit of time.” – Graham Potter
Niclas Füllkrug (hamstring), Jarrod Bowen (foot) and Michail Antonio (leg) are definitely out, while Potter – as well as the West Ham website – seemed to suggest that Jean-Clair Todibo (unknown) and Alphonse Areola (unknown) won’t be involved, either.
“Everybody else is pretty much as they were. We’ve got a couple of just bumps and bruises that we just need to watch over, but nothing problematic, certainly long-term, so it is what it is.” – Graham Potter
This is the first time we’ve really had confirmation from the Hammers that Areola is injured. The France goalkeeper has been absent from the last two squads in league and cup.
BRENTFORD
There’s no change to the Brentford injury situation going into Gameweek 22.
Josh Dasilva (knee), Ethan Pinnock (hamstring), Gustavo Nunes (back), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle), Igor Thiago (joint infection) and Aaron Hickey (hamstring) remain sidelined.
But the Bees have at least come through the draw with Manchester City unscathed.
“No, [no one coming back]. Same squad available that was available for the Man City game.
“No [new injuries].” – Thomas Frank
“He is not on the grass, so it will take him a bit longer before he’s back. I don’t know the exact timeframe if I’m honest. It’s not that I don’t want him back, but he is not available for the weekend. I know the medical team is taking good care of him.” – Thomas Frank on Gustavo Nunes
Away from injuries, Thomas Frank was asked about the prospect of Bryan Mbeumo leaving.
“No, [I don’t envisage a challenge in keeping Mbeumo].
“It would be that big a fee that I can’t imagine the size of the fee.
“I’m not even focusing on keeping my best players, I’m just expecting them to stay.” – Thomas Frank on Bryan Mbeumo
FULHAM
Kenny Tete (knee) and Reiss Nelson (hamstring) remain on Fulham’s injury list but Sander Berge (ankle) is available again.
The Norwegian had been back in training ahead of Gameweek 21 but didn’t feature.
Fulham boss Marco Silva doesn’t have any fresh concerns.
“Reiss Nelson and Kenny Tete are going to be out of the game.
“As you know, Kenny is going to be longer until the end of March or the first weeks of April. It’s difficult to be precise about it but it’s going to be around that moment.
“Reiss, let’s hope we can see him soon again with the team. He started last week doing some individual work on the pitch already, nice to see him on the pitch. Let’s see when he’s going to be back in contention with the team, to see how he’s doing after with his physical condition.
“All the others are going to be available for the game.” – Marco Silva
LEICESTER CITY
Ruud van Nistelrooy has no new concerns going into Gameweek 22.
Nor does he have any injured players returning, so Abdul Fatawu (knee), Wilfred Ndidi (hamstring), Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) and Mads Hermansen (groin) remain out.
“There’s no injury news from yesterday’s game and no players coming back for Saturday.
“We don’t have a date yet [for Hermansen]. It’s a working progress on his rehab. He’s making small steps in the right direction at the moment, so hopefully sometime next week we could get an update on his future and when he could be back.” – Ruud van Nistelrooy
Loanee Odsonne Eduoard is available again, having been unable to feature against his parent club in midweek.
New signing Woyo Coulibaly, a right-back, could be involved provided the paperwork on his transfer has been completed.
“Today he wasn’t able to train yet with the team because they are finalising the paperwork. So, we are waiting today [to see] if he can train tomorrow with the team.
“Obviously, we will have to assess him then because it’s one training [session] before a game. We’ll see if we can get him involved in the game for Saturday. I think that will be the maximum possible.” – Ruud van Nistelrooy on Woyo Coulibaly
