Team News: Queens Park Rangers

By: Kevin Affleck

Adam Masina has made significant progress in his injury rehabilitation and should be available to Vladimir Ivić for the hectic pre-Christmas period.

The popular left-back has been sidelined since hobbling off in the second half of the pre-season friendly against Scunthorpe. Ivić had been resigned to being without the Italian until the New Year, but the 2018 summer signing from Bologna is back out running on the grass and nearing a return.

“He will be with us in the next two weeks,” said the Head Coach, who sees the availability of an out-and-out left-back crucial to playing his preferred formation. “Maybe at the end of November, beginning of December he will start to work with the team.”

Like he did with Will Hughes, Andre Gray and Troy Deeney, Ivić again cautioned against rushing a player back too soon, preferring to take the longer-term view in a truncated and packed fixture schedule.

“He will start with us after four months out,” he said of Masina. “It will take two or three weeks for him to adapt, for him to be able to play. We have been waiting for him as we know he is an important player for us and can play in two important positions [left-back and left centre-back]. We hope he can come back to his level.”

Stipe Perica, another player with Serie A experience, is also going to be back earlier than expected. It was feared the striker was facing a extended spell on the sidelines after a shoulder injury in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, but he is also back in light training.

“It is one more player who is back for us,” said Ivić. “He scored one goal and was unlucky in this game. I hope he will be with us [properly] in the next two or three days to work as normal with the team.”

That good news is tempered somewhat by Ivić’s confirmation that a new minor injury for Will Hughes will keep him from rejoining training for another week or so.

“I hope it will just be one week [more],” said Ivić. “We wait for more information from the medical team.”

Ben Foster is fit and available following a scan on a thigh problem while Ivić will have been relieved Craig Cathcart played in Northern Ireland's next two games after coming off injured in the first.

Cathcart, along with Ben Wilmot, William Troost-Ekong, Ken Sema, James Garner and Ismaïla Sarr, will train today with the team for the first time this week, while Francisco Sierralta is not back from international duty with Chile until tomorrow. Ivić will assess the condition of his returning international players before deciding whether to plunge them straight in against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday or factor in that the team have nine games coming up in less than a month.

Additionally, there are one or two other players upon whom late decisions will be made.

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