Stoke City injury update and the two players who will miss Sunderland
Stoke City will tackle Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this weekend without Junior Tchamaeu and Josh Laurent
Stoke City head to Sunderland this weekend in generally rude health having had no fresh injury worries to report – although they will be without Junior Tchamadeu for a little while longer after his native Cameroon progressed into the knock-out stages of the African Cup of Nations.
Trailing 2-1 to Gambia with five minutes to play on Tuesday, Cameroon staged a late comeback to win 3-2 and secure their place in the last 16 of the competition. Tchamadeu, 20, featured as a substitute in the first two group matches – the draw with Guinea and defeat to Senegal – but he watched on from the dug-out as his international colleagues got the job done in order to advance.
Tchamadeu has played regularly since Schumacher’s appointment before Christmas, and he eagerly awaits the young defender’s return to Stoke availability, whenever that may be – in the meantime, though, he is pleased that Tchamadeu is being able to enjoy the experience of international football that he is currently being exposed to.
“With five minutes to go of that game, we were thinking we were getting him back early, which would have been a bonus,” Schumacher admitted. “It’s unfortunate for us but good for Cameroon, they managed to get themselves a couple of goals later on and Junior stays a bit longer. It’ll be a brilliant experience, though. I think as a young player going to a major tournament, it’s playing with some of the best players in world football – and not only the players who we all know of.
“I think it’s, it’s a brilliant experience for him and I’m sure he’s enjoyed it and always he only played a few minutes here and there. He hasn’t started one of the games yet. As a 20-year-old lad it’s a brilliant opportunity and I’m really pleased for him.”
As mentioned, Stoke otherwise are in pretty good shape as they prepare for the venture north to Wearside, where the challenge of a currently discordant Sunderland awaits. Josh Laurent with his ankle problem, as was already known, is expected to be the only notable absentee aside from Tchamedu.
