Carroll/Sakho delays go on and on

Another seven days… another depressing report on possible return dates for Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll.

Last week we were told Carroll had “several bridges to cross”, this week we get nothing more than “Andy Carroll and Gokhan Tore continue to work on their rehabilitation at Rush Green.”

Then comes the Sakho report after off the record briefings that he is closing in on a comeback.

Apparently not so according to the the club’s top medic Stijn Vandenbroucke in his latest update.

He says the striker has been training all week with the Under-23s in controlled but hard sessions and adds: “Diaf is in the final stages of his own pre-season training schedule and he will join the first-team squad next week.”

However, then comes the rub with Stijn adding: “He will be with them for several weeks before he will be re-introduced gradually into games.”

Great! Pray there’s no more injures to front men although of course the good news is that Andre Ayew is back. Very much a mixed bag of information and not as encouraging as we might have hoped.