With Gameweek 25 just around the corner, our look at the injuries sustained over the weekend brings a handful of concerns for Roberto Martinez ahead of the trip to Chelsea. Charlie Austin will miss QPR’s crucial encounter at Sunderland, while Ronald Koeman allays fears over the head knock that forced off young Matt Targett early on last weekend.
Burnley
Manager Sean Dyche said it was too early to offer a diagnosis on the knee injury that forced Dean Marney off at half-time in the 2-2 draw against West Brom, according to the club’s official website.
Chelsea
Cesc Fabregas remained sidelined with a hamstring problem for the Blues’ 2-1 win over Villa. Reports on Friday confirmed the Spaniard had been passed fit during Jose Mourinho’s press conference but he failed to make the trip to the midlands, with doubts remaining over his midweek availability at home to Everton.
Crystal Palace
Scott Dann was replaced at half-time following a clash of heads with Leicester’s Wes Morgan in the 1-0 win at the King Power. Alan Pardew doesn’t believe the defender suffered concussion from the incident.
“Scott Dann has a large golf-ball-sized lump on his head from a clash with Morgan. He wasn’t quite right at half time. I don’t think he was concussed, but he felt a little bit uncomfortable.â€
Everton
Leighton Baines will be assessed ahead of the game against Chelsea on Wednesday after failing a fitness test on a knee injury before the Merseyside derby. Aiden McGeady looks set to miss out against the Blues with a similar complaint, revealed Roberto Martinez.
“As you can imagine, Leighton did not want to miss the game for anything and we tried everything to get him fit. But the knee wouldn’t settle and we had a fitness test this morning which showed he wasn’t 100 per cent to play. I don’t know about Wednesday [against Chelsea]. I don’t think it is a long-term problem and I think he could be available – if the game was a week away, I would definitely feel that he would be ready..Aiden had a knock in training and has a bruised bone in the knee. I think he will be a little bit longer than Wednesday, even though it is not a serious problem.â€
The Toffees boss revealed Muhamed Besic and Steven Naismith will also need assessing after picking up knocks in the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.
“Steven Naismith had a really nasty fall and he twisted his neck. The doctor was concerned and we were going to do the substitution but the doctor felt he could carry on until half-time and then we could reassess. Naisy didn’t want to come off and then also Mo Besic was carrying a little bit of a niggle, James McCarthy was coming back from a long-term injury, it was the first time Bryan Oviedo had started for a while and Gareth Barry was on nine bookings – so I had to make sure I wasn’t using a substitution cheaply.”
Liverpool
Brendan Rodgers revealed midfielder Lucas Leiva was substituted after 16 minutes of the Merseyside derby with a recurrence of a groin injury which ruled him out of the FA Cup tie at Bolton last Wednesday.
“We’ll just have to assess it. He had a slight problem with his adductor – that’s why he missed the last game [at Bolton]. He felt it again there, so we’ll see what the scan says on that.â€
QPR
Charlie Austin will miss Tuesday’s trip to Sunderland after suffering heavy bruising to his right foot. But Rangers’ top goalscorer should be available for their Gameweek 26 clash against Hull at Loftus Road. The news on Richard Dunne isn’t so good, though; the veteran is ruled out for up to three months after sustaining a medial cruciate ligament injury, whilst fellow defender Nedum Onouha faces three-to-four weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Southampton
Replacing the suspended Ryan Bertrand in the starting XI, Matt Targett lasted just 25 minutes before suffering a head injury following an aerial collision with QPR’s Matt Phillips. Ronald Koeman is confident the injury isn’t too serious:
“The update with Matt is that everything is under control now. There’s no other problems. He will have a headache but nothing more and that’s good news.
Stoke
Stephen Ireland and Marc Wilson both limped off injured during the 1-1 draw at St James’ Park, reports in the local press have confirmed.
West Brom
Victor Anichebe was forced off with a groin injury in the Baggies 2-2 draw against Burnley. After the match, Tony Pulis explained why Saido Berahino was named amongst the subs and gave an update on Anichebe’s situation.
“We have three big games so were looking after Saido a bit. Victor has been in and done well but he felt his groin before the game but the big fella waned to play and start the game. You could see after 15 minutes that he was struggling. â€
