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Man City news: Medical expert issues 'certain' Kyle Walker claim
Man City defender Kyle Walker is likely to return from injury in England’s World Cup game with the USA on Friday (25 November).
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Walker has not featured since he suffered a groin injury in Man City’s 6-3 win over Man United last month (2 October).
As quoted by the Guardian on Thursday (24 November), the 32-year-old declared himself “fit” and revealed that he wants to play against the USA.
“You are probably pushing it to say that he’s ready for a start,” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“Ideally what Gareth Southgate would probably like from Kyle Walker is for him to be integrated gradually, probably from the bench in game two and game three.
“Then as we go into the knockout phase he should be in the position to transition seamlessly from being on the fringes of that starting XI to coming into that starting XI if needs be.
“Of course, there are a lot of considerations and things could change between now and then and we are not always presented with the ideal situation i.e. availability of other players and injuries and suspensions they could pick up.
“It comes down to the performances of other players and how he wants to set up his team. Is it a flat back four or a back three?
“Certainly, in terms of getting some minutes, we would like to see him get some minutes against the USA.
“He’s ahead of where we thought he might be after going under the knife at the beginning of October. He’s done really well to get here.
“But it’s going to be a case of getting that sharpness and that fitness up. That’s likely to come from the bench, especially when you’ve got players like Kieran Trippier performing as well as he has done for England.”
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