News from Clayton Wood ahead of Stoke City’s Championship matchup with Preston North End
Luke McNally and Enda Stevens have both returned to training today in anticipation of Stoke City’s pivotal final ten games of the campaign.
seasoned left-back After recovering from a hamstring injury, Stevens may be considered for the starting lineup the following week for the first time since head coach Steven Schumacher assumed the position in mid-December.
McNally, a center-half on loan from Burnley, has been sidelined for the last four games due to a thigh strain. He is not expected to be fit for this weekend’s away game against Preston North End, but he should be available for the squad’s Saturday home game against Norwich.
Ben Pearson is serving a one-match suspension for receiving a red card at Leeds during the week, while Jordan Thompson is returning from a two-match ban for receiving ten yellow cards. Junior Tchamadeu is still sidelined due to an ankle injury. After a knee injury, Ryan Mmaee should resume training the following week.
“No issues from the other night,” stated Schumacher. Ben Pearson is out due to a red card, but fortunately there are no injuries. We had to tend to a few weary bodies and individuals during training, get everyone back out, and assemble a squad that was prepared to play.
Luke McNally and Enda Stevens trained together on Thursday, and they both performed incredibly well. Due to his extended absence, Enda is unlikely to be available this weekend, and McNally is likely not either. He has been out for a few weeks due to a thigh strain, so he might be back next week as well. We shall see. Although it’s only their first meeting with the group, they have both trained.
Preston’s scheduled Wednesday night match against Southampton was called off due to a massive fire that started next to the stadium.
“Games get called off for loads of different reasons during a season; that was definitely a new one for me,” Schumacher stated. They had to make the trip back on Wednesday night after visiting that location on Tuesday. We won’t use the fact that they’ll be a little fresher as an excuse. It will take that for us to get a result, so we need to go there and adjust our energy levels.”
