Peterborough United boss talks ongoing injury issues for key players, but there was one positive in Blackpool defeat
Peterborough United’s injury list is decreasing, but the side are not out of the woods yet.
Tom Lees did not in fact miss any action after being on the wrong end of a horrible challenge on Easter Monday that left him with a nasty gash on his shin. He played in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Blackpool against the advice of club doctors considering the number of stitches his wound required.
He managed to get through in open play, but was substituted immediately after a lengthy stoppage in the second half caused by a medical emergency in the crowd. After the match, Posh boss Luke Williams told the media that both Lees and Brandon Khela are managing issues and seized up after the break and were not able to restart the match,
Ben Woods also continues to battle his way back to full fitness after missing almost three months with a calf injury. Despite his return on Easter Monday, he missed out against Blackpool with Williams insisting the match ‘knocked the stuffing out of him.’
There were positives, however, as Matt Garbett came off the bench to make his first appearance since the home defeat against Huddersfield on January 31.
Williams said: “Tom was definitely advised not to play, but he felt absolutely fine and the break in play really was no good for him so he couldn’t continue.
“Tom and Brandon seized up after the break. They tried to stay active at half time, they have got work they do to keep them going because both of them are struggling with that fatigue. The restart and the stop again was just too much though and they just couldn’t get going, so we made the changes.
“Ben is struggling a little bit. We don’t think it’s a big deal, but the previous game knocked the stuffing out of him a little bit. It was too much for him today. We need to have a couple of players in each position and Brandon came in and scored a great goal so fair play to him.
“Matty showed some character when he came on. He showed us what he can do and we saw what we have missed such as the ability to wriggle and take the ball under pressure and get away to try and create something. That was nice to see again. At least we managed to get some minutes into him.”