Sadly a near two week wait for the next game but it at least it offers recovery time and it will surely mean that Marko Arnautovic will be back to lead the attack against Fulham.
The likelihood too is that Fabian Balbuena will have made a quicker than expected recovery from a knee problem, Samir Nasri will be back from a calf strain and of course the long awaited return of Manu Lanzini is now at hand.
Ryan Fredericks too will be keen to play against his former club who look in need of a miracle to survive in second bottom spot with 17 points just six clear of Huddersfield.
It seems likely that Nasri will be a midfield starter with Lanzini possibly making his appearance off the bench later in the game.
The return of Balbuena will be a huge plus as we have not looked anything like as certain at central defence following his and Issa Diop’s understanding developing so well before his injury.
I see so much being placed on the return of Lanzini. He has been out for such a long time, will he really be an instant hit? No, not in my opinion. We have seen before, when he returns from a minor injury, it takes him 3 or 4 games to get back up to speed. With this amount of time out, I really cannot see him being a starter for 4 or 5 games once back to full fitness. That’s if he does make it back of course. I am still of the belief that he won’t be back in the squad until April. I would love to be proven wrong, but I don’t think I will be.
Would be nice to see Lanzini back in action but , as MartinPayne6 rightly says , we shouldn’t expect too much . Next season maybe . Getting some minutes this season would help him to recover though . So coming off the bench is the most likely scenario .