Nathan Broadhead
The Welsh international, who joint top-scored for Town in their Championship promotion season (13), has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the early stages of pre-season. He’s now had two weeks back on the training pitch though and could be in the squad for a crunch clash between two newly-promoted sides at St Mary’s this weekend.
Kieran McKenna said “I think from a physical point of view he would be able to play some minutes this weekend, which is a big positive. Striker George Hirst and winger Wes Burns both returned from injuries in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Brighton, with right-back Harry Clarke, who underwent Achilles surgery in May, now the only player in the first team squad not fully fit. Harry’s a little bit further behind, but he’s trained the majority of the sessions this week. If we were in big, big need he could probably get on the pitch this weekend, but we’re pretty strong in that position. We’ve got some players with different knocks and issues, but everyone has played some part in training this week. The group’s looking really healthy. That gives us good depth now. Over the course of the season we’re going to need everyone to give us contributions., now everyone is fit.”
McKenna has to leave seven first team players out of his 20-man matchday squad. In addition to Clarke and Broadhead, Cieran Slicker, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess, Jack Taylor and Ali Al-Hamadi were the ones who missed out last weekend. Meanwhile, the Blues boss revealed that Janoi Donacien, whose contract was not renewed in the summer, is still training with the club.
Kieran McKenna said “He’s still with us, is getting some treatment and is looking at the next steps. “As I’ve said many times, he’s a top, top player, an outstanding person and I think there’s a big demand for his services. We’ll try and help him make the right decision for the next step of us his career.”
