Steve Bruce has been speaking to the press this lunchtime ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Manchester City, and it’s not great news on the injury front.
We already know that Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden will miss out with hamstring strains, while Florian Lejeune and Ciaran Clark are still recovering from recent injuries, however it now looks like there’s another FOUR who’ll miss out tomorrow.
Bruce has confirmed both Miguel Almiron (thigh) and Allan Saint-Maximin (knock/fatigue) are ‘struggling’, while the boss has also revealed that Andy Carroll ‘hurt his groin’ on Sunday, along with Jamaal Lascelles aggravating an ankle problem that almost kept him out of the West Ham game.
Here’s what he’s had to say:
“Unfortunately we have picked up one or two.
“Almirón and Saint-Maximin in particular are struggling.
“Almiron’s carrying a thigh injury, Carroll hurt his groin a little bit when he came on (against West Ham), Lascelles took a kick to his ankle, which he’s had problems with.
“I’ll be resting a few (at Man City). We’ve got a few knocks, bumps and brusies.
“I won’t know more until we train – we’re due to train at 2 before we take the plane to Manchester.”
Bruce then expanded on Saint-Maximin and Almiron:
“I’m wary of the fact he (ASM) took a knock on Sunday, it was his fifth start in 15 days, and his history of hamstring injuries.”
“Almiron’s been carrying a thigh injury, but doesn’t want to tell anybody!’
So, it looks like there’ll be as many as EIGHT senior players missing tomorrow’s game, meaning we could see a relatively new-look side take on Pep Guardiola’s side.
A few may yet come through training today, but it seems an unnecessary risk to make ahead of a far more winnable game against Watford on Saturday?
