Lanzini ready for Sunderland
He confirms Lanzini is ready to face Sunderland but says Sakho, Reid and Carroll all need a few more days to get their fitness back.
Stijn told the club’s website: “It was also pleasing to see Manuel Lanzini back in action.He is training this week with the first-team squad and will be available for selection for the Sunderland game on Saturday.”
“We also have positive news with the return of three key players to first-team training this week.”
“Diafra Sakho, Winston Reid and Andy Carroll are all back in training and will now spend the next few days building up their fitness.”
“Diafra has obviously been out for three months and will need a bit more time, while Andy and Winston will hope to play some part in the games that we have got coming up next week.”
“The planned integration of these players back into the games is very important as they enter the final stages of their rehab/training/playing.”
“The difficult exercise is that the players and staff don’t get carried away in the last phase, the return to play phase.”
“We try to integrate each player that returns from injury into games, minimising the risk of a re-injury but maximise the team performance.”
“But I am confident that Sakho, Reid and Carroll will all play their part in a busy schedule for the club when we face Sunderland, Tottenham and Everton in the space of a week.”
“Depending on injuries we will have to see game-by-game who is available and take it from there”