Lukaku on track to return against Cherries

Lyndon Lloyd , 22 September, 18comments | Jump to most recent

Romelu Lukaku is expected to train normally tomorrow and be passed fit for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth after missing the cup defeat to Norwich.

The striker picked up a toe injury in last weekend's win over Middlesbrough, was substituted with 25 minutes to go and subsequently left out of the EFL Cup tie on Tuesday evening.

Ronald Koeman told the media at his pre-match press conference at Finch Farm this afternoon that Lukaku had a separate training session from the main group today and that he expects the Belgian to train as normal tomorrow morning.

"If that happens he is fit for the weekend," Koeman said before confirming that there are no injury concerns over Phil Jagielka was merely rested against the Canaries.

He wouldn't be drawn over talk of a contract extension for Lukaku, insisting that it was not his job but that of the club's hierarchy to sort out with his agent.

The manager also gave updates on Darron Gibson and James McCarthy who are both working their way back from groin surgery.

GIbson isn't scheduled to resume running until next week but McCarthy has already resumed light training and should be ready to return, presumably after the upcoming international break.

Koeman had no further updates on Muhamed Besic who continues his rehabilitation following an operation to repair an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in pre-season.

Reader Comments (18)

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Chris Gould
1 Posted 22/09/2016 at 14:39:44

Love him or hate him...we certainly need him.

Ian Glassey
2 Posted 22/09/2016 at 14:53:00

Hope it is not as bad as his last toe injury, he was not back to his best for weeks and as Chris said love him or hate him we can not do without him. No body else in the team chips in with enough goals.

Michael Polley
3 Posted 22/09/2016 at 15:02:19

Agreed he is our only goal maker. His absence on Tuesday was obvious.

Robert Leigh
4 Posted 22/09/2016 at 15:06:08

Correct Chris. Need him to start at least at the weekend and help us get ahead against a Bournemouth team happy to play football. If we can get 1-0 or 2-0 up inside an hour we can take him off and move Mirallas up top to hit them on the counter (or Valencia, we need to persist with him as he's second choice).

Steklenburg; Coleman, Jags, Williams, Baines; Gana Gueye, Barry; Bolasie, Barkley, Mirallas; Lukaku
COYB!!

Liam Reilly
5 Posted 22/09/2016 at 15:29:20

Fully expect a reaction to Tuesday's disappointment.

Terry Underwood
6 Posted 22/09/2016 at 16:31:14

Agree with earlier posts, he is our only real goal threat at the moment. We desperately need another top class striker or one of the youngsters needs to take the step up.

Oh joy, a 19-year-old comes in and scores 20 goals. It has happened before (not to us) and will happen again. Knowing our luck, it will be someone we just released.

Bob McEvoy
7 Posted 22/09/2016 at 17:55:33

Terry 6 ... Alan Whittle, 69-70.

Patrick Murphy
8 Posted 22/09/2016 at 18:00:39

Alan Whittle scored 11 times in 18 appearances for Everton in 1969-70, however, he was a teenager when he made his debut.

Paul Conway
9 Posted 22/09/2016 at 18:14:21

Someone like Whittle who was backup for Royle is exactly what we need. Take a look at his goal vs West Ham on YouTube. Pure class!

Brent Stephens
10 Posted 22/09/2016 at 18:46:16

Yes, we missed him this week. Hope he's fit and can take those stats further. Valencia is quite nimble but doesn't offer the same threat.

Les Martin
11 Posted 22/09/2016 at 19:06:29

Even money, should be a good bet at Bournemouth and with respect, I will be very surprised if we don't show far too much for them

Rob Sachro
12 Posted 22/09/2016 at 20:22:30

Alan Whittle? Seriously? 55 goals in 275 appearances in his first class (league) career. Even Niasse could manage that! And yes, for anyone about to go "off on one", I'm taking the piss. That being said, we still need a better back up striker... or any striker!

Terry White
13 Posted 22/09/2016 at 20:27:36

Paul (#9), Whittle was in no way a "back up for Royle". He came into the 69-70 team as a replacement for the injured Jimmy Husband and went on a scoring streak that helped us to the Championship. However, that was playing WITH Royle, not instead of him.

Everything I have read and seen suggests Valencia could be a similar player but would need to play with Lukaku or a similar striker.

Anthony Dwyer
14 Posted 22/09/2016 at 21:10:57

Rom is clearly huge for us, without him we look toothless.

I know it's early to judge Valencia, but he looked like a little kid playing against men against Norwich. We need to lean to play to his strengths, play him in on goal using his speed, not use him to hold the ball up or we might aswel use a child.

Kone is much stronger if we just want someone to bring others into play, he also has a very decent first touch.

Niasse can't be as bad as he looks, surely to god. But if he is then best we start looking at our U23, U21 and U18 squad for something different.

Hopefully we can get a decent lead early on and take Rom off accordingly, wrap him up in cotton wool.

Dave Speed
15 Posted 22/09/2016 at 21:27:49

I've mentioned the youngsters a few times on this site. Ferguson had the courage to put in half a dozen 20 odd years ago. Hansen said "You can't win anything with kids". They only went and won the league! Admittedly they didn't play all season, but they all made contributions when the first team stars were out injured or suspended.

We have some good midfielders and a couple of good strikers that could be blooded. We already know what the fringe players can't do (the Norwich game just underlined it) so we should give them a chance. Lukaku was given his chance with WBA and us at a tender age so there doesn't seem any reason not to.

Stan Schofield
16 Posted 23/09/2016 at 00:29:51

Terry @13: I recall Husband's ankle being broken by Dave MacKay of Derby, and Whittle coming in and subsequently scoring in 13 consecutive games, unless my memory is playing tricks.

Brian Porter
17 Posted 23/09/2016 at 06:01:30

For those who aren't aware of it, Tom Davies is Alan Whittle's nephew.

Kevin O'Regan
18 Posted 23/09/2016 at 09:02:25

Christmas is coming and I want Julian Green. He can play as striker and also on the wing, but would be a decent addition. I'm starting a petition now...

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