There were just two Gameweek 6 press conferences held on Thursday daytime but one of them brought us news on the fitness of the highest-scoring Fantasy Premier League (FPL) midfielder of 2022/23: Rodrigo Moreno (£6.5m).
The managers of Leeds United and Nottingham Forest are the only Premier League bosses to face the media so far, with 16 more top-flight head coaches set to speak on Friday.
Erik ten Hag and Brendan Rodgers will fulfil their Gameweek 6 duties after tonight’s clash between Leicester City and Manchester United, with some quotes likely to be embargoed for a day or two.
LEEDS UNITED
Rodrigo will be out until after the international break with the shoulder injury he sustained in Tuesday’s draw with Everton at Elland Road.
“When it pops out, it’s about as good a case scenario as possible. That means that it doesn’t need surgery and hopefully, in 3-4 weeks, it can calm down. Maybe it takes a little bit longer, maybe it’s a little bit shorter, we will see. He feels good, he feels confident that he will be ready fairly soon, so we’re kind of targeting after the international break.” – Jesse Marsch
Stuart Dallas (leg) remains out, while Luke Ayling (knee), Junior Firpo (knee) and Liam Cooper (calf) are in training and Patrick Bamford could be in line for a start in Rodrigo’s stead.
“First, I think yes that he can [start]. We’ll have to make a decision. We could start with both Joffy [Gelhardt] and Patrick, it’s something we’re speaking about as well.” – Jesse Marsch on Patrick Bamford
“Everyone else is in training except for Stuart Dallas. Junior Firpo, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford, all back. Some decisions on exactly which guys are ready to go for the weekend but they’re all in training looking healthy.
“I’d say Liam Cooper is probably the closest to being ready to start, and the others [Ayling/Firpo] I think we’ll more be considering, ‘would we have them on the bench or not?’” – Jesse Marsch
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
The Forest team news was an altogether quieter affair, with boss Steve Cooper reporting no fresh concerns from the 6-0 defeat at Manchester City last night.
“No, nothing in terms of injury. Players are reporting a little bit later so I haven’t seen them but I know there are no obvious injuries from last night. A tough week physically, was always going to be the case in terms of three games in a week and only two days between each game. But that’s fine, we’ll always deal with it as it comes.” – Steve Cooper
Orel Mangala (hamstring), Omar Richards (leg) and Moussa Niakhate (muscle) remain out.
