Yahoo News Gooch, Pearson, Stoke City injury news and plan for 'one of hardest pre-seasons they've ever had'
Lynden Gooch and Ben Pearson haven’t been entirely ruled out of a return to play in Stoke City’s final match of the season but it is looking increasingly unlikely.
Gooch, Pearson and Ryan Mmaee have all been ruled out with hamstring injuries during the run-in and although Mmaee always knew that his problem would not be solved until the campaign had finished, Gooch and Pearson have been targeting an early-May comeback.
The pair are not ready to be involved at Southampton away this weekend and, although they have been stepping up their training, remain major doubts for a week on Saturday at home to Bristol City.
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Steven Schumacher, when asked if they could play in that match, said this afternoon: “Potentially but I’ve said all along to those two lads that we won’t just put them in because it’s the last game of the season and get them out there, they haven’t trained with the group yet at all and I won’t want to take a risk. The last thing those players will want to do is have a recurrence of an injury and then a summer when they’re in and out of this building and having to see the physios every week.
“That would affect them in pre-season going forward and they need to make sure they’re ready to go in pre-season because the pre-season is probably going to be one of the hardest that they’ve ever had.”
That sounds like a pre-season that Schumacher is already looking forward to.
“I am looking forward to it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to a summer first – and I’m looking forward to getting some more points first before it’s all over. That’s what we’ve got to try to do.”
Schumacher had said when he had confirmed the injuries to Gooch, Pearson and Mmaee that he hoped they would still be part of the squad as chief supporters. That looked like the case in a post-match video last weekend when Pearson emphatically led the congratulations in the tunnel following a big 3-0 win over Plymouth.
“It needs everybody,” said Schumacher. “You can’t have different factions in the squad, everyone has to be on the same page and pulling in the same direction. That’s the only way you’ll have any sort of success. If people are doing things for their own self you won’t have any joy. You’ve got to be able to put the team first and that’s the type of characters we want to have here.”
