Huddersfield Town hit by double injury blow ahead of Plymouth
Neil Warnock gave the latest injury news for his Terriers squad ahead of this Saturday’s Championship opener against the newly-promoted Pilgrims down at Home Park
Terriers midfielder David Kasumu is set for several weeks on the sidelines after going off midway through the first half of last weekend’s friendly victory over Dutch side Heerenveen.
The midfielder was clipped while running through on goal early in that game, then was fouled again after the referee played advantage, exacerbating an existing injury niggle. Manager Neil Warnock described Kasumu’s issue as being similar to the one that has kept his captain Jonathan Hogg out of action for the past few weeks, and is likely to lead to a similar length lay-off.
Midfielder Hogg and centre-back Tom Lees will remain sidelined for the Terriers’ opening day trip to face Plymouth Argyle, Warnock confirmed. Neither the Huddersfield Town captain nor his vice-captain have played any part in the side’s pre-season friendlies this summer.
Hogg was forced to return home midway through last month’s trip to the West Country with an ankle ligament issue. Lees picked a calf injury early in the summer, and that has now healed – but the defender injured his back in the gym while recovering, and that new issue will now keep him out of action.
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Tuesday’s evening’s Carabao Cup game against Middlesbrough at the John Smith’s Stadium may also come too soon, though Warnock said Hogg is the more likely of the two to be able to come back in time for that game.
Winger Pat Jones missed the Heerenveen game as a precautionary measure after playing a part from the bench in the other summer friendlies, but has now returned to training and could be in contention for a squad place down in Devon.
That leaves Ollie Turton as the club’s only senior long-term injury absentee at present. The right-back ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the first half of February’s defeat away to Wigan Athletic and is not expected to be back available until around December.
Fellow defender Yuta Nakayama is now fully recovered from the Achilles injury he suffered last November and played 60 minutes for the B team last weekend.