Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke issues his latest update – in association with Spire Roding Hospital...

Hello everybody.

The Treatment Room is as empty as it has been in a long time, which is obviously a good thing, not just for the Medical and Sports Science team, but for the manager in terms of player availability.

While we have to be honest enough to say that, no matter how well we prepare, the next injury is only a matter of time away, the current situation is a positive one.

Andy Carroll returned to training with the squad on Wednesday after working for the previous four days individually on the pitch.

It is never ideal when a player cannot train and recover regularly. Andy has barely trained this past month, but Andy has now returned to full training in preparation for Chelsea.

We also have good news regarding both Diafra Sakho and Angelo Ogbonna.

Diafra is now entering a critical phase of his rehab as he steps up the intensity of the fitness work he is doing on the pitch.

It is still difficult to say how long it will be until Diaf is ready to return to action, as this depends very much on how his body responds to the increasing level of physical work on the pitch.

Finally, Angelo is back with us at Rush Green and is working on his rehab on a daily basis after undergoing surgery on his knee after our win at Middlesbrough in late January.

Stijn Vandenbroucke

Head of Medical and Sports Science