Stoke City injury boost as Mark Robins prepares for first return to Coventry City
Mark Robins is boosted by the fact that he could have just two of his Stoke City players left in the treatment room when he heads into his first return to Coventry City this weekend.
Stoke have been dogged by injuries all season - and there have been injuries to key players, too. Ben Pearson and Sam Gallagher have only started six games between them, while summer signing Bosun Lawal has had to build up his sharpness with the under-21s after spending so long being ordered to rest due to a back injury.
But there has been light at the end of the tunnel over the last few weeks as Pearson has been able to return to the starting XI, Gallagher has been finding his feet from the bench, Million Manhoef is back after two months out with a knee injury and Ben Wilmot has returned after a month-long foot problem.
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Elsewhere, Eric Bocat is back in the squad after two months nursing a calf injury, Lawal has been getting through games for the 21s, Ali Al-Hamadi has been able to play through a groin issue, Jordan Thompson is fit again following a hernia operation, Enda Stevens has made it back after a calf injury and Bae Junho is well again after a nasty tooth infection.
There was a bug in the camp last week too but, while Lewis Baker was confined to his sick bed when Watford came to town on Saturday, Manhoef got the last minute green light to play as a sub.
There were still another six players missing but Wouter Burger, Lynden Gooch and Ben Gibson are expected to be available for Robins’ big return to the CBS Arena and the former Sky Blues boss has suggested that only two wouldn’t be ready for the next fixture. Sol Sidibe is probably one of those as he rests a back injury while former Coventry loan player Josh Wilson-Esbrand (calf) and Ryan Mmaee (hamstring) complete the set.
It will be interesting to see if Mmaee can work his way up the pecking order when he is fit. The 27-year-old striker had left at the end of the summer transfer window, seeking game time on loan at Rapid Vienna, but he picked up a quad injury in his first training session, had a set-back and then did his hamstring in January, when Rapid decided to contact Stoke about sending him back.
Saturday, meanwhile, will be Robins’ first match as an opposition manager against Coventry since beating them 1-0 with Scunthorpe United back in September 2015.
