FPL Gameweek 28 team news: Thursday’s live injury updates

The Gameweek 28 press conferences begin on Thursday, with eight managers scheduled to face the media.

You can find all the big injury updates in this article, which will be refreshed throughout the day.

We should hear from the managers of the other 12 Premier League teams on Friday. You can read the early Gameweek 28 team news from those dozen clubs here.

KEY GAMEWEEK 28 TEAM NEWS FROM THURSDAY

Sunderland: Mukiele + Brobbey sidelined for 2-4 weeks, Ta Bi, Mundle + Cirkin also out

Tottenham Hotspur: Porro + Danso fit, van de Ven should be fine

Aston Villa: Alysson to train and return to squad, three midfielders still out

Brighton and Hove Albion: Ayari could be an option, Milner fit, March latest

Leeds United: Gudmundsson recovers, Okafor still out, everyone else fit

West Ham United: Pablo still not in training, Potts remains suspended

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Krejci banned, likely too soon from Hwang

Burnley: Tuanzebe + Broja still a “few weeks” away, Foster back from illness

THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES

SUNDERLAND

The Black Cats have been hit by some big injury blows this week.

First off, Nordi Mukiele (calf) and Brian Brobbey (groin) will be out for the next 2-4 weeks.

“It will be shorter for Nordi and Brian, between two and four weeks, depending on the way they respond to their treatments and the rehab. Let’s wait a bit.” – Regis Le Bris

Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Jocelin Ta Bi (ankle) could also face a month or more on the sidelines.

“It might be a difficult injury [for Romaine]. He might be sidelined for a few weeks, a month. We still have some assessments to make but we’ll have a clearer picture soon.

“It’s still early to say if it’s exactly the same [injury he’s had before] but the feeling wasn’t positive.” – Regis Le Bris on Romaine Mundle

“Jocelin might be in the same position as Romaine with a different injury. He might need surgery. A couple of weeks, a month… it’s still a bit early, as well.” – Regis Le Bris

All four of the above players were injured against Fulham last weekend.

Having sat out that defeat to the Cottagers, Dennis Cirkin is also now confirmed as sidelined with a hamstring issue.

Reinildo Mandava (knee) is still unavailable, too, but Bertrand Traore (knee) is at least back after a month out.

“[Dennis] is getting better, like Rei. We miss them but they are getting better. The timeline should be shorter, around ten days, maybe, depending on the last stage of the rehab, as well.” – Regis Le Bris

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

The Spurs injury crisis is abating slightly, with Kevin Danso (toe) and Pedro Porro (hamstring) available again.

Micky van de Ven is also expected to shake off a finger injury to feature at Fulham.

“Yeah, [Danso and Porro are fit]. That’s right.

“No other issues, only small problems for Micky with his small finger but he’s okay, he will be in.” – Igor Tudor

Wilson Odobert (knee), Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Lucas Bergvall (ankle), Ben Davies (ankle), Rodrigo Bentancur (hamstring), Mohammed Kudus (thigh), James Maddison (knee) and Dejan Kulusevski (knee) remain out, however.

“We hope so. In this moment, I don’t know.” – Igor Tudor on whether Dejan Kulusevski will return this season

Cristian Romero also continues to serve a four-match suspension and will not be back till Gameweek 30.

ASTON VILLA

Unai Emery has confirmed that Alysson will train this afternoon and be in the squad for Friday’s trip to Molineux.

Boubacar Kamara (knee), Youri Tielemans (ankle) and John McGinn (knee) remain out, however.

“Alysson is coming back, I think normally he will come back in the squad for tomorrow. In case he’s training this afternoon; we’re going to train this afternoon.

“The other players, with the players we know are out, hopefully they will be available for tomorrow.” – Unai Emery

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

Yasin Ayari (shoulder) will have his first full-contact training session today and could be “an option” for the weekend.

“He will have his first training session today. He had some sessions on the pitch without any contact and now he’s able to get in contact with his opponents, with his teammates. Hopefully, everything goes well and then he might be an option for the weekend.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Yasin Ayari

James Milner is fine – he only came off last Saturday with cramp.

“He needs a little bit more recovery time than maybe in former times! He looked sharp again, the last two days on the training pitch. He seems to be totally fit. Therefore, definitely again an option for the weekend.” – Fabian Hurzeler on James Milner

Solly March (knee), sidelined for a lengthy period but back in training for a while now, is pushing for involvement. Albion actually took March to Brentford last weekend but the long-serving winger didn’t make the matchday squad.

“It’s very important that he definitely gets game-time in the right moments. He needs game-time to get back to his highest level but it’s also about timing, it’s about not forcing it. The last week he had a really good training week, he continued this so far this week. Hopefully, he has a good session today, as well. It will be a big session for him, and then he’s getting closer and closer to the squad.

“I took him with the team [to Brentford] because I like having him around the other lads, having him around in this environment, because he’s a very experienced player. He’s a player who has a good knowledge of football, of knowing what it [takes] to win a Premier League game.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Solly March

Matt O’Riley didn’t make last week’s squad, either, but Fabian Hurzeler confirmed that it was a tactical decision, rather than fitness-related.

Unless there are any issues that Hurzeler failed to disclose (it has been known), that leaves only long-term absentees Adam Webster (knee) and Stefanos Tzimas (knee) on the sidelines.

“No, nothing new. No new injury concerns and I think that’s quite positive, to go with this availability of players into the final part of the season.” – Fabian Hurzeler

Lewis Dunk is playing through knee pain but again seems to be available for selection.

“At the moment, what he’s doing I think it’s difficult to describe in words because he’s feeling pain. We know it but he’s suffering for the club. He’s there for us, for the club, for his teammates. And he’s not only there, he’s performing. He’s performing well. I think he’s playing at the minute at his highest level.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Lewis Dunk

LEEDS UNITED

Gabriel Gudmundsson has recovered from the illness that forced him off at half-time of the Aston Villa game last weekend.

“He’s recovered. Good news.” – Daniel Farke on Gabriel Gudmundsson

That means that only Noah Okafor (hamstring) is out for the visit of Manchester City.

“Just Noah is out and will miss this game. All the others are ready, available, in training and in a good mood, and also want to play.” – Daniel Farke

WEST HAM UNITED

Pablo Felipe is expected to miss out again for West Ham’s trip to Liverpool.

The striker has sat out the last three matches in league and cup with a calf issue, with reports suggesting he’ll be out for 4-6 weeks – although Nuno Espirito Santo hasn’t confirmed that timeline.

“He didn’t join us yet. He’s starting his individual programme, so improving day by day. Like I said, we’ll keep assessing him to see when he can return.

“It all depends on him [when he’ll return], depends on how he now adapts to the loads again. Hopefully, soon – we miss him.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Pablo

Otherwise, it’s the usual knocks and niggles that Nuno has to check on.

“You know how it is, always knocks, things to assess. Training session tomorrow and then we travel.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

On the suspension front, Freddie Potts continues his three-match ban after his straight red card in the FA Cup.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Ladislav Krejci serves a one-match ban after being sent off for two bookable offences last weekend.

Hwang Hee-chan (calf) is back in training but Rob Edwards says the game likely comes too soon for him.

Edwards said striker Tolu Arokodare is “okay to play” despite being subjected to racist abuse on social media this week.

BURNLEY

There was no team news in the broadcast section of Scott Parker’s presser.

However, in the written press section, we did get some updates.

Armando Broja (unspecified) and Axel Tuanzebe (Achilles) look set to remain unavailable for selection, with both a “few weeks” away.

“Axel is probably still a few weeks away. He goes in for another injection, I think tomorrow, so he’s a little bit away.

“Armando’s probably on that same course. He’s just coming out of the back of some injections, so he’s just low level at the moment. He’ll pick up his work, but he’ll be a few weeks away as well.” – Scott Parker, via the Burnley Express

Lyle Foster should be back, however, after missing Gameweek 27 through illness. The bug also affected Kyle Walker, Bashir Humphreys and Lesley Ugochukwu during the matchday.

“Lyle’s trained this week. He’s back up to speed and had a good week’s training, so we’ll see how he is leading into the weekend and whether he’s selected.” – Scott Parker, via the Burnley Express

Of the long-term absentees, Mike Tresor (ankle) and Zeki Amdouni (knee) are back on the grass and closing in on returns but are thought to still be some distance from a recovery.

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