Ahead of Saturday’s clash against Wycombe Wanderers, Dean Holden issued the latest on the fitness of his squad.
The manager provided an encouraging update on Miles Leaburn, who was withdrawn at half-time during last weekend’s win at Cambridge United.
Holden said: “Miles is actually not as bad as we first thought, certainly at half-time at the weekend. He felt something in his hamstring, we've had that scanned and that's come back pretty good. Again, he’s not trained with the group yet but we'll see if he comes into the reckoning [for Friday’s training session].”
Todd Kane stepped up his rehabilitation programme on Thursday and fellow full-back Mandela Egbo continues to progress well.
“Todd Kane joined in with the first team for the first time this morning,” revealed the boss. “He's been out for a good period of time so he only did the warm-up and a bit of the passing exercise at the beginning. It’s a tick a box for him and we’ll start to push him on in the next few days.
“Manny has been training well,” he added. “He's had a really good week or so since he's come back into the first team fold and he’s come into the reckoning for the squad at the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Lucas Ness is set to miss the remainder of the campaign with a knee injury sustained during the Addicks’ home game against Accrington Stanley a fortnight ago.
“Lucas Ness has received a little bit of sad news in that he’ll probably miss the rest of the season now with that patella tendon injury,” said Holden. “It’s not too bad; it's just because we’ve not got too long to go until the end of the season.
“He's going to work as hard as he can to get back and if we can get him back this season then we will do. We just have to be mindful that if we rush it then it's eating into our preparations for next season. We'll be guided by the medical team on that one.”
Asked if Terell Thomas’ Saint Lucia call-up leaves his side light in defensive areas, Holden said: “It’s really good news in one sense and, from a selfish point of view, it's obviously frustrating. The more players we can get into an international fold at this football club the better.
“It’ll be a great moment for Terell and his family to represent his country and obviously we wish him and Jojo all the best.
“It leaves us a little bit light at the back but we are more than fine with Ryan [Inniss] and Michael [Hector], who have built up a good relationship in the last couple games. Zach Mitchell will come back into the squad for this weekend and it’s an opportunity to maybe get some more youngsters involved.”
The Addicks return to The Valley on Saturday to take on Wycombe Wanderers (3pm KO GMT). Click here to purchase your tickets.
(Article by Alex Forrest)
