Steven Schumacher has delivered an update on Bae Junho and Niall Ennis
Bae Junho is being wrapped in cotton wool as he nurses what is hoped to be a minor thigh strain to be ready for the start of the season.
The 20-year-old player of the year sat out of Stoke’s 1-0 win at Bolton last night in their penultimate friendly and will be assessed ahead of the final warm-up game, against AZ Alkmaar at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
But Steven Schumacher sounded like it was just a precaution, particularly for such a key player in quite a light squad.
AS IT HAPPENED: Bolton 0 Stoke 1
He said: “He’s ok. He had a little bit of tightness in his thigh after the Stockport game, in the extras that he did, and it was just a little bit too sore over the last couple of days. It was no point risking him now. We’ll see how he is for the AZ Alkmaar game but he’s so important to us and we can’t take any risks.
“He’s a fit lad. He played about a million games last season so missing one pre-season game isn’t going to affect him but it’s a bit of a thigh strain and hopefully he’ll be ok.”
Niall Ennis is being monitored too after limping out of the Stockport game and missing the Bolton match.
Schumacher said: “Niall Ennis was a contact injury on the stroke of half-time, the skin all swelled up. He tried to run (on Monday) and he looked uncomfortable. With Niall’s history there’s no point risking him.”
Enda Stevens will be assessed after being withdrawn after half-an-hour last night due to a calf problem.