Gallagher, Manhoef, Thompson - Stoke City injury news ahead of FA Cup trip to Sunderland
Mark Robins will have a few days now to assess the squad he has inherited at Stoke City.
Robins oversaw his first Championship game on Saturday, a 0-0 draw with Plymouth Argyle, after only being able to have one training session with everyone who was fit and available following his appointment as manager.
It is a busy time to take charge, with 20 league matches remaining to try to haul the Potters up the table, an FA Cup third round tie to complete a triple header with Sunderland, and the January transfer window to navigate.
READ MORE: Stoke City transfer news: what Mark Robins and Jon Walters have said about January window
READ MORE: Huge offer for Stoke City man could force transfer decision as Mark Robins made to wait
There are also senior players in the treatment room at the moment, or returning to fitness, as Robins has to try to find his best starting XI to win games in the here and now. Here are the latest updates on that front.
Sam Gallagher
The 29-year-old striker made an early exit in his third start of the season, hopefully as a precaution to prevent another injury. A calf injury in pre-season ruled him out until late September and a hamstring injury in October has then stopped him featuring until now.
Robins said on Saturday: “Sam felt his hamstrings, I think bilaterally. I think he’s just taken himself out of the firing line a little bit and if he’s done that at the right time, brilliant, he’s saved himself and it’s just tiredness, fatigue. If he’s starting to understand his body like that then great. It means we can really start to build him up without getting him injured.
“I wanted to keep him on for an hour. I played him because I wanted to try to get after them. I think he’s got the power and the pace and the know-how to be able to score and almost did at times. We got him into decent positions but we were reaching for things, over-reaching and stretching when we were moving the ball but other than that, if you can’t win, don’t lose.”
Eric Bocat
Bocat pulled out of Stoke’s starting XI in the warm-up to the win over Sunderland on December 29.
The 25-year-old left-back has picked up a calf injury and is expected to spend a few weeks on the sidelines.
Robins said: “Eric picked up an injury, a soleus injury, and he’ll be out for a little while, a little while being a few weeks.”
Enda Stevens
Stevens, aged 34, had hoped to have caught a calf tweak in time when he came off early against Preston on November 26 but scans showed damage was worse than initially thought.
That's only just over a month ago but has meant he has not started for nine matches. He was used as a sub against Sunderland but Lynden Gooch has filled in otherwise and influential Stevens has stayed on the bench as he tries to get up to top speed in training.
Ben Pearson
The midfielder turned 30 this week having not played for Stoke since suffering a hamstring injury in April last year. He needed off-season surgery and was hoping to make his comeback in October or November but for a set-back as he stepped up training.
He has building back up again and being eased into the thick of it at Clayton Wood. He was targeting a return to full training at the end of December - Narcis Pelach then said he had been put back about a week - and now he is not far away from a welcome return.
Jordan Thompson
The 28-year-old midfielder hasn't started for Stoke since a home draw with Bristol City in October and has missed out on a place in the squad in the last few weeks after picking up a groin problem. An update is due later this week.
Million Manhoef
One of Stoke's most dangerous forwards, the 23-year-old right winger had chipped in with five goals and three assists before he sustained a medial collateral ligament injury in his knee against Cardiff on December 14. Initial assessments suggested he would be ruled out for between two and three months, which could rule him out until March.
Bosun Lawal
Lawal's return to availability - training for the first time with Stoke since joining from Celtic in the summer - has not been helped by scheduling over the festive period.
The versatile 21-year-old had been hoping to build up minutes with the under-21s but Premier League 2 didn't give Stoke any fixtures between November 29 and January 10 while Lawal sat out of a Central League win over Bolton as a precaution after making his first team debut as a sub against Cardiff a few days previously.
So he has been sat on the bench for the seniors over the last few weeks, hoping that the new year will bring a new chance to kickstart his career at the bet365 Stadium.
