Alan Stubbs talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United boss Alan Stubbs will have the services of defenders Joe Mattock and Stephen Kelly back at his disposal for the trip to Norwich City on Saturday with the pair set to make their returns from injury.Meanwhile, the Millers boss says he is pleased with the progress of long-term absentees Aimen Belaid and Kirk Broadfoot but will be without on loan midfielder Tom Adeyemi for the clash with the Canaries at Carrow Road.
Stubbs began by explaining that returns for Mattock and Kelly were imminent and both could play a part in Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship outing.
“Joe’s fine, he’s trained all week now and touch wood, there’s been no recurrence of that pain in his calf that he felt before the game so obviously he comes back into the squad for the weekend,” he told www.themillers.co.uk.
“He’s [Stephen Kelly] done well. He’s back in full training and he’s been training Tuesday and will be back in today and in the first team fold again.”
The Millers’ chief continued to add that Broadfoot, who has only featured for his side once this season, is progressing well but warned that the he and his coaching staff will need to be careful about when they reintroduce him to second tier action.
“His actual initial injury to his back has recovered really well and we’re very pleased with that but he’s had a couple of niggles in other areas which can be the case when you’ve had quite a few weeks off,” Stubbs continued.
“He’s just feeling a little bit of discomfort in his foot and we’ll see how he is today. He trained on Tuesday and all being well if that’s settled down he’ll join in today hopefully.
“The most important thing is now that we’re closer than we have been for a number of weeks that we don’t rush him.
“Broady is experienced enough to know what his body is telling him. Knowing him as we do, he will be desperate to get back and we have to be careful of that but we’re hoping we’re talking days. He won’t be available for the weekend and we’ll see how he is on Monday after the weekend but he’ll have a better chance of being available for the Reading game, rather than Norwich or Birmingham.”
Tom Adeyemi has made similar improvements on the injury front but suffered a setback which Stubbs believes will probably see him miss out on the trip to Norwich City.
“Tom is the same. In terms of his initial injury which was his calf, we had good news from the scan and it was a Grade 1 which is a small tear,” Stubbs explained.
“He was suffering from fatigue in his thighs as well and it’s worked well really that we’ve been able to let them settle down. He’s probably not going to be available for the weekend but we’ll see how he is after that.”
Tunisian defender Aimen Belaid’s return is also on the horizon and has returned to training with the rest of the Millers squad, having spent time doing some rehabilitation in France.
“Aimen has been integrated into training this week. He’s still not been doing any longer stuff and all his rehab has been shorter from passing to running,” the Millers boss continued.
“We’re still building the strength up in and around his abdomen and groin area which is where the problem is. I think Aimen is a little bit tense because he doesn’t want that injury to recur again and he’s had a few weeks in France doing rehab and he’s done very well and he’s progressing. He will probably be a couple of weeks before he’s ready in terms of being ready to play."