Lynden Gooch is hoping to lead an exodus from the Stoke City treatment room as he joins back in with training.
Utility man Gooch, aged 28, has been sidelined with a knee injury since September but has been making good progress in the final stage of his rehabilitation, with hope he can start work for the first time under Narcis Pelach later this month.
He is expected to be the first of Stoke’s four longer-term injury victims to be back up to speed but is hoping he will soon be followed by Bosun Lawal (back) and Sam Gallagher (hamstring). Stoke’s medical team is being careful how quickly they push Lawal and Gallagher to make sure they are not vulnerable to repeat or knock-on injuries.
It has been a particularly frustrating wait for 21-year-old Lawal, whose medical when he signed from Celtic in the summer flagged up a stress fracture he didn’t know he had and had played with through last season. He can play at centre-half, in central midfield and at right-back.
Gallagher, aged 29, picked up a calf injury after joining from Blackburn in August but showed what impact he can have next to Tom Cannon in two starts in October before limping out of a draw at Swansea.
Ben Pearson, also 29, is still in recovery from a hamstring operation he had in the off-season. He had been pencilled in to return to training about this time but suffered a set-back in the autumn and there is no clear time frame on his return.
But Enda Stevens, who missed a draw with Millwall heading into the international break, and Ashley Phillips, who came off early in that game and has since pulled out of the England under-20s squad, are not expected to be on the sidelines for too long. Stoke are next in action away to Queens Park Rangers next Saturday, with Wouter Burger serving a one-match suspension for picking up a fifth yellow card.
Sporting director Jon Walters said: “Enda and Ash are just little niggly things and nothing to be too concerned about.
“Ben Pearson will be longer than the others, Lynden is looking really good and will hopefully be joining in sooner than the others. Bosun is out running and doing really well. He’s desperate to play and it’s been annoying. He’s desperate to be involved and he’s pushing himself. He’s doing well, not too far.
“Sam has had no reaction and he’s pushing too. They’re both running, both fine, so it’s a case of how far we push them and how quickly to make sure that when they come back they don’t get injured.”
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