Three of City’s long-term injured could get minutes in this week’s EFL Trophy game against Barnsley.
City travel to Oakwell knowing that by avoiding defeat, we’ll top the group and get a home draw in the next round.
That has to be balanced with keeping the squad fit, given that we’ll be missing three for the visit of Doncaster on Saturday. It’s around this time of year that the squad feel thin, naturally, and yet today’s press conference hinted at the opposite – the return of three long-term injured.
Youngster Oisin Gallagher has dropped out of sight since being injured at Boston on loan, while Jack Moylan hasn’t kicked a ball since we faced Harrogate in the Carabao Cup. Finally, we last saw Dom Jefferies disappearing down the tunnel after being brought on and off against Charlton last season.
All three could get minutes tomorrow at Oakwell, but as Michael suggested in his pre-match press conference, it will be too soon for Ben House.
“Too soon for Ben, we’ll see how he is for Saturday,” was his reply when asked about injuries. “Dom Jefferies (we) could see (he’s) in content and has been training.”
That could be huge news, as Dom looked to be a bright spark last season. He’s an option wide left, but made his name as a central midfielder, and could be really useful in the coming weeks.
Another player fans are eager to see is popular Irish attacker Jack Moylan. Considered as a player who can make things happen, his absence has been felt.
“Jack Moylan could get some minutes,” added Michael. “Oisin Gallagher – might see him as well. So, there are a few lads that I think this next game could be quite good to see them in, which is great news.”
Michael then outlined what a huge boost it could be to get the trio back around the first team.
There are two sides to it. It’s great that you can see them. So, it’s good for the fans. You know, if we can get Dom Jefferies, Jack Moylan, Oisin on the pitch Tuesday night, tomorrow night, it’d be great.
“The challenge with that is then there’s probably some enforced changes in the game. So, I might have to change shape and make some changes that are not natural.
“I think with these games, it’s really good that we want to win the game, we want to go through top. But like Dom Jefferies, if he is starting or if he comes off the bench, he can only do a certain amount of minutes, because we don’t want to spike them too soon so they get injured for the league.
“There’s no doubt that the league is our bread and butter, and we’re trying to get players up to speed ready to compete for a squad in that. But it does bring some challenges with selection and changes within the game that we saw a couple of weeks ago at Salford.”
However, there is a caveat. Coming out of a tough encounter with Rotherham, there are a few players we may look to nurse through the next couple of days.
“Reeco’s still out, so that’s a game too soon for him as well,” Michael added. “There are a couple of knocks from Saturday’s game as well.”
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