Tonight (Friday), Noussair Mazraoui and Bryan Mbeumo will go head-to-head in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals, as Morocco squares off against Cameroon.
When asked if either player might return in time for the weekend, Fletcher responded, “I don’t think so. It’s too tight of a turnaround. We’ll have the same roster available for the game as we did against Burnley, so there won’t be any new faces. Bryan and Nous will not be in contention for the match.”
Maguire’s fitness is being cautiously monitored, along with other players who recently returned against Burnley.
“He has been out for a while, so we’re paying attention to his load and similar factors,” our interim head coach explained. “That decision hasn’t been finalized yet. You saw the players like Mason [Mount], Kobbie [Mainoo], and Bruno [Fernandes] come back the other night. There needs to be a careful approach to integrate them, so Harry will likely be in a similar situation for the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Amad is still participating in AFCON with the Ivory Coast, which will take on Egypt on Saturday.
Injury is currently keeping centre-back Matthijs de Ligt out of action.
