Mark Robins admitted to his frustration as he confirmed that Ben Gibson and Sam Gallagher are missing at least a chunk of pre-season due to injury.
Centre-half Gibson and forward Gallagher had battles with injuries last season which limited them to 24 and 22 league appearances respectively, and Robins spoke at the end of term about the importance of getting good work into them in the summer.
But they have not been able to join in training properly so far and sat out of a first friendly, behind closed doors against Shrewsbury Town. The manager doesn’t put timescales on returns but clearly wants the pair back double smart.
Robins said: “The injuries are obviously getting better – but how far away those two are I don’t know. When somebody comes back injured when they weren’t injured when they left the building, that is difficult (for me) and it’s difficult for them.
“I want them back as quickly as possible and they need to work and obviously need to demonstrate that they are able to complete a good pre-season to give themselves the best chance of staying fit during the season.
“That’s what pre-season is about. You cannot miss pre-season and expect to stay fit and have any longevity through the season if you miss work. I’m looking forward to getting them back.
“I am frustrated with it, I’m really frustrated with it, because they are two really good players who are important and we can’t afford people to be missing. So, yes, I’m frustrated and I really want them back as quickly as they possibly can.
“They are working hard and the physio department, medical staff, are working really hard to get them back as quickly as we possibly can.”
Bae Junho is quickly recovering from a dislocated shoulder he sustained while playing for South Korea.
“Bae Junho is different because he did his playing for his country,” said Robins. “He’s now back on the grass and feeling a lot more confident with it and he won’t be too far away.”
Full-backs Junior Tchamadeu and Eric Bocat started the fixture at Clayton Wood, which Stoke lost 1-0, after working through the close season to make sure they recovered as quickly as possible from injuries that forced them out of the last couple of weeks of last season.
Robins said: “They’ve worked their socks off to be fair. The fact they’ve got back quickly is good for everybody.”
Bosun Lawal missed the Shrewsbury game as a precaution while new signings Maksym Talovierov, Sorba Thomas and Divin Mubama, plus Viktor Johansson – whose return was delayed due to his summer international commitments – watched from the sides having only started back to training this week.
Million Manhoef, who has been away with Netherlands under-21s, will join up with the squad this weekend when they fly out to Spain for a six-day training camp.
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