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The winger looked to be out for the next three to four months after picking up the injury on international duty with Bulgaria, but on Friday morning the Manager reported that good progress over the next fortnight could shorten the absence.
He said, “Our initial thoughts were that he is going to be out for quite some time, and that could still be the case. He went to see the specialist in Spain that looked after him when he did his ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament), and the report on that is that it is intact, so there’s no problem there.
“He does have a problem with his meniscus but the view is that maybe for the next couple of weeks we will try to build up the strength around the injury. If after that there is no marked improvement then we will have to do something about it, and he will be out for a significant amount of time. For the next two weeks we are hoping that the strengthening around the injury may take the pressure off it and he may able to play, with getting it done at the end of the season a possibility. It’s a long shot, but maybe worth taking for the sake of a couple of weeks.”
With the game against Stoke looming, Micah Richards’ ankle injury, sustained on Monday night at Newcastle, is of more immediate concern and of that Hughes adds:
“The impact was when the lad fell on Micah’s ankle when he was down. It was sore and it was put in a protective boot very quickly and it settled down. Once the swelling goes down we will check on him today and see if he can train. But he’ll be touch and go for Sunday.
There’s better news with regard to Joe Hart’s contract negotiations, with Manager confident that the keeper will put pen to paper shortly.
“It’s progressing well,” he confirms, “it’s something both parties want to conclude. Joe is an exceptionally talented keeper that we are delighted to have here, and we are looking to get it sorted as quickly as possible. Michael Johnson’s contract was sorted, the young players at the club are part of where we are trying to go and Joe falls into that category. We want him to be here for many seasons.”
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