Team News: Bachmann & Dele-Bashiru Update

Tom Cleverley has provided a squad update ahead of the trip to Fulham in the Emirates FA Cup on Thursday (January 9, 7.45pm KO).

Daniel Bachmann will undergo surgery on his ankle ligament injury, meaning the goalkeeper is set for a 10-12 week spell on the sidelines as he rehabilitates following the procedure.

“We’ve committed to doing the surgery,” the Head Coach explained. “We all feel like it is an injury that is high risk of reoccurring, so we decided to fix it straight away.”

In more positive news, Tom Dele-Bashiru is moving closer to a comeback after he was back training on grass this week.

Cleverley continued: “He has returned really well, and we are hoping to get him 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors game for the Under-21s on Friday.

“That should put him in contention to be in the squad on Tuesday.”

Defender Kévin Keben remains as an absentee, but has re-joined the training group.

The former Watford captain also hinted at a number of changes for the cup clash at Craven Cottage, challenging those players on the fringes of the squad to show what they are made of.

“[Pierre] Dwomoh, [Mamadou] Doumbia, [Antonio] Tikvić - I expect all of them to see the pitch at some point tomorrow,” he said.

Cleverley added: “We want to, without piling too much pressure on them, see if their pathway is with us for the second half of the season, or if they should go out on loan and develop that way.

“So tomorrow night is a little bit of an audition for players like that, and it will be good for our supporters to see them.”