Arsenal FC’s Thomas Vermaelen and Stoke City’s Mamady Sidibe eye January comebacks
It has been reported that Arsenal FC defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Vermaelen-c35002 is nearing to make his return to 1st team action.
The centre back was sidelined due to an Achilles injury and he has not featured for the Gunners since August this year.
The Belgian international made his move to Arsenal from Ajax FC at the start of 2009/2010 season and established himself as a must-pick in Arsene Wenger’s starting 11.
Thomas is excellent in the air, and also wins crucial headers while defending. He also has a knack of scoring crucial goals from set pieces; he netted in 8 goals in 48 appearances during last season.
Wenger also seemed to be happy with the return of his central defender. However, the French manager mentioned that he did not intend to rush the player back into action as the 25-year-old has been out of action for about 3 months.
Wenger said, “Thomas has been out for a long time and we are hopeful he will come back in January. He's had a few setbacks and the decider on whether he plays a part this season is now because he is practising again.. But overall
they look quite optimistic he will be back in January.”
Arsene also seemed satisfied with the current condition of his squad and mentioned that he had the depth in his reserves to cope up with the flurry of fixtures coming in the next weeks.
The Gunners are currently 2nd in the English Premier League after registering 32 points off 17 games. Their next encounter in the league is against city rivals http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 FC, who they host at The Emirates Stadium, on 27th December.
Meanwhile, Stoke City striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mamady-Sidibe-c23298 is also recovering from an ankle injury he suffered during a home game against Tottenham Hotspur in August 2010.
The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mali-c2951 international has not been able to play since his horrific injury that he sustained during the 2nd match of the Premier League season.
However, the African star has worked hard during his rehabilitation process and looks set to returning to playing ways somewhere during January.
He said, “To get injured in just the second game of the season was a horrible thing to happen. But now things are moving in the right direction and I have been doing a lot of running to make sure I get back to full fitness quickly.”
“There is still some work to be done, but hopefully I'll be back sometime in January. It has been very frustrating for me to be out for so long."
The Potters are 13th in the table and travel to Ewood Park to face Blackburn http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rovers-c40385 on Sunday.
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