Scott Parker has given an injury update ahead of the home EFL Championship fixture versus Luton Town, with Junior Stanislas and Lewis Cook “moving in the right direction”, and Jefferson Lerma and Ben Pearson potential doubts.
Stanislas was once again ruled out through injury four weeks ago after making his first start of the season against Blackpool, which saw him forced off in the first 16 minutes.
As a result, the attacker has missed the matchday squads since, as he recovers from the same hamstring injury which previously saw him ruled out. But good news came as Parker revealed that he had returned to training with the squad for the first time today.
Lewis Cook has been an absentee in the Parker regime after receiving a second serious injury to his right knee back in March this year. The midfielder has been on a steady recovery plan since, and as with Stanislas, he is back involved with the team. The head coach stated that he was hoping to “give him (Cook) minutes in the coming games”, but that there was a process to have him ready.
Parker advised “The main focus for us is getting him as strong as we can.
“We are ticking off every milestone we get to, and the next milestone now is him training with us with no modifications in his work and being around it fully.
“Hopefully he comes through that, and then he gets some games in.
“There are some under-23 games coming so we will be looking to put him in that and we will work out from that how far away he is from joining us.”
Parker confirmed both Stanislas and Cook will be unavailable for the Saturday fixture.
Coming off the back of the 1-0 victory away to Cardiff last Saturday, slight knocks were picked up by Jefferson Lerma and Ben Pearson.
Described as “regular knocks”, Parker said the pair had come through okay but that they “just need extra-time”.
The pair can be expected to be within the matchday squad, but are potential doubts to start, with the game giving the head coach a chance to rotate and bring in some fresh legs.
Goalkeeper Will Dennis picked up a concern during the warm-up away to Cardiff, but has been involved with training and will be available for the weekend.