Manuel Pellegrini has given loose return dates for Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere but it’s hard to be overcome by excitement.
Carroll is apparently close and a friendly will be organised on his behalf for Thursday as he returns to full squad training after being involved ” a little bit with them” during the last week according to the boss.
Wilshere, meanwhile, is expected back into training during the second week of the international break which is something like a month over the predicted return date when we were told it would be six weeks following the Wolves game.
In terms of hard cash their absences on a collective wage of approximately £185k a week has lost the club around £2.5 million over the start of the season – a fact of footballing life which is rarely mentioned.
I just hope that with AC coming towards the end of a trouble torn injury contract with West Ham, we aren’t about to see another start with JW both for his sake and ours. It was a widely held fear when he signed of course.
With the best player in the club holding down the central striker’s role and Wilshere yet to impress it’s hard to get too enthusiastic about this particular duo’s return.
Maybe everything is going to be 100 per cent for the rest of the season. On the other hand I have just seen a pig fly past my window.