News

“Too early to risk him” – Hodgson’s injury update rules two Super Eagles stars out of crucial Premier League clash

The Hornets are all but condemned to a return to the Championship after a terrible campaign, but their manager is not giving up just yet

Watford boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed that the Nigerian duo of Samuel Kalu and William Troost-Ekong will miss the Hornets’ league clash against Brentford this weekend.

The Golden Boys sit in 19th position with 22 points, six away from safety with only seven matches to play, and they will need all the help they can get when they host the Bees at the Vicarage Road on Saturday.

Of the four Nigerian internationals in their fold, only Emmanuel Dennis has excelled for the Hornets, scoring nine goals and adding another five assists since he joined from Club Brugge in the summer.

Injuries have not allowed Watford to get the best out of Stoke City loanee Oghenekaro Etebo and midfielder Samuel Kalu since he signed for the club from French side Bordeaux during the winter transfer window.

Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong has also struggled with injuries and match fitness since returning to England from the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

And at Friday’s press conference, Hodgson revealed that two of the club’s Nigerian imports will be unavailable when the Golden Boys face a Christian Eriksen-inspired Brentford later today (Saturday).

“Samuel Kalu, who was with us last time, has got an ankle injury,” the Hornets’ manager said.

“Will Troost-Ekong is suffering from a slight hamstring strain. We don’t think it’s major but too early to risk him in this game.”

Watford have only won two of their last 14 league games this year and unsurprisingly occupy one of the last two spots on the Premier League table.

The strugglers may need to win six of their last seven games to survive the drop, but it could be an arduous task with Manchester City, Leicester City, and Chelsea among those opponents.

But Hodgson is not losing hope that his side can pull off a miraculous escape.

“We need at least one more point than the team third from bottom; how many points that will be; I don’t know. This is the time in the season when strange things happen.

“We’ve just got to keep taking the opportunities that come our way because we’re not dead yet; we are still alive and kicking, still hoping and believing that we can get out of it.

“We have to take every opportunity that comes our way to get points and hope the teams we are chasing don’t have similar fortunes,” he added.

!function(e,t,r){let n;if(e.getElementById(r))return;const a=e.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];n=e.createElement(“script”),n.id=r,n.defer=!0,n.src=”https://playback.oovvuu.media/player/v1.js”,a.parentNode.insertBefore(n,a)}(document,0,”oovvuu-player-sdk”);

This post was last modified on April 16, 2022 7:15 am

Imhons Erons

Recent Posts

Report: Carrick’s Middlesbrough nears signing of Super Eagles star

EFL Championship side Middlesbrough are reportedly closing in on the signature of Super Eagles attacker… Read More

8 hours ago

John Terry vs Roberto Carlos: What ex-Chelsea captain said to Mikel Obi after star-studded performance

Former Chelsea captain John Terry has hailed John Mikel Obi’s performance after their star-studded charity… Read More

11 hours ago

Kazeem Olaigbe: Rennes close to signing ex-Southampton lad caught between Nigeria & Belgium

French club Rennes are closing in on the signing of Cercle Brugge winger Kazeem Olaigbe,… Read More

16 hours ago

Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund begin negotiations for exciting Nigerian midfielder

Borussia Dortmund have taken a significant step in their pursuit of Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka,… Read More

17 hours ago

Relegation dogfight: Aribo and Onuachu score to help Southampton steal big win at Ipswich

Super Eagles stars Joe Aribo and Paul Onuachu were the difference makers for Southampton as… Read More

18 hours ago

Sevilla head coach reveals shocking updates about the future of two Nigerian strikers

Sevilla head coach, Garcia Pimienta, has spoken about the future of Super Eagles striker, Kelechi… Read More

19 hours ago