News from the bet365 Stadium as Stoke City prepare for the start of the new Championship season
Emre Tezgel will be eased back into the mix at Stoke City as he recovers from injury.
The 17-year-old England youth striker is expected to be in the treatment room for about another fortnight with an injury picked up before a friendly against Levante just over two weeks ago
But he won’t be rushed into the thick of the Championship straight away as coaches try to make sure that when he’s back, he’s back for good.
Alex Neil said: “He’s still going to be a couple of weeks and then it’ll need to be a gradual process to bring him in because he’s broken down too often. We need to build him up first before we start reintroducing him.
“It’s not knowing his body properly. He felt a bit of tightness in his muscle but didn’t tell anyone and trained the next day because he’s desperate to be involved.
“But that subsequently puts him back further. If he’d gone to see the physios we would have taken him out so it’s just a little bit of naivety because he was so eager to be involved.”
Ben Pearson sat out of Stoke’s final friendly of pre-season against Everton but is hoping to be fit for the home opener against Rotherham next weekend.
Neil said: “Ben was due to start. Unfortunately, he just came in (on Saturday) morning with a niggle and it’s just precautionary but we don’t want to take any chances.”
Lewis Baker watched the game from the stands as he recovers from a knee operation that will keep him out until September. Dwight Gayle continues to work on his fitness following a calf injury.
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