Speaking to the press this morning, Steve Bruce has delivered a significant update on the injury front ahead of Sunday’s crucial clash with Spurs.
The NUFC boss reveals that Allan Saint-Maximin “could be involved” after coming through a big training session on Wednesday, claiming he is closer to full fitness than Callum Wilson.
Our top scorer has been pictured back in training this week, however Bruce states that he is unlikely to be fit for Sunday’s game – suggesting next weekend’s trip to Burnley is a more realistic return date for the striker.
Bruce also confirms that Miguel Almiron is fully fit again after looking well below his best at Brighton, also revealing that Isaac Hayden will NOT need surgery on his knee injury – although it will still keep him out for the remainder of the season.
Martin Dubravka is also expected to be fine for Sunday, despite a stomach problem seeing him miss two of Slovakia’s games over the international break.
Here’s what Bruce has had to say on all of the above:
“The break has allowed us to get some players close to match fitness.
“Allan Saint-Maximin has trained the best part of all week, so that’s good news.
“It’s fair to say Saint-Maximin is a bit more advanced than Callum Wilson is.”
“He could be involved. We still have today and tomorrow to train but he came through a big session 48 hours ago.
“We hope he can play some part.
“Callum Wilson is back on the grass and puts himself into contention, to a degree.
“It’s fair to say Allan’s ahead of Callum at the moment.”
“I wouldn’t have thought Callum will be available.”
“Martin hasn’t been very well but we expect him to be OK.
“We expect him in for training today and we’ll have a chat with him to see how he feels but we think he’ll be OK [for Sunday].”
So, good news on Saint-Maximin, Dubravka and Almiron, but a frustrating update to hear Sunday will come too soon for Wilson.
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