Ricardo Fuller suffers injury setback
Stoke City striker Ricardo Fuller has suffered an injury setback after damaging his shoulder again during the 2-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers.
Fuller first picked up the shoulder problem after he fell awkwardly during the 2-1 win away at Newcastle United in late September. He was forced from the field against Bolton holding the same shoulder
and may not play for a number of weeks.
"He's the ace in the pack for us when you need him.
If you play him for 30 or 40 minutes, he will do two or three things, either create or score.
He's fallen heavily on the elbow and so the shoulder has most probably popped out again," said Stoke boss Tony Pulis.
Fuller is one of the most important attacking players in the club. It's important the club now gives him the time he needs for the shoulder injury to heal completely.
A big striker
Fuller is a big striker and this makes him a key player for Stoke at domestic level and Jamaica at international level. Pulis has admitted that he would have preferred
Fuller to have spent the recent international break resting his injury.
However, Fuller's pace and power means he is capable of creating a number of problems for an opposition defence, even when he is carrying an injury. This means that a manager
will be more willing to play him with a problem.
Pulis will now have to resist any temptation at all to throw Fuller back into the Stoke team until he is completely fit and there is virtually zero chance of the shoulder
injury re-appearing.
"The problem is, when they go away on international duty they are taken
away from what we do on strengthening work, like Ric on his shoulder. If they're away for 10 days you don't know what they're doing," added Pulis.
Betting advice
Fuller can now be ruled out of any chance of heading the Premier League scoring table by the end of the season. However, he is good enough to score in any game at any time
for Stoke and should be backed in this way.
Tags: