‘Been assessed’ — Martin issues fitness update on Walker-Peters, Fraser and Brooks

MANAGER Rus­sell Mar­tin has giv­en a clean bill of health for Southamp­ton’s fit­ness doubts ahead of fac­ing Mid­dles­brough on Fri­day after­noon.

Ross Stew­art and Juan Lar­ios remain out with long-term injuries but have returned to the grass for the next step of their recov­ery.

Kyle Walk­er-Peters and Ryan Fras­er have both been passed fit hav­ing been out of the game just before the March inter­na­tion­al break.  

Speak­ing ahead of wel­com­ing Michael Car­rick­’s Boro to St Mary’s, Mar­tin revealed the squad is in a good posi­tion ahead of their final 10 games of the sea­son.

He said: “Every­one is in a good place. Wee Man (Fras­er) and Kyle have looked like they’ve nev­er been away. They are now avail­able for the run-in which is fan­tas­tic.

“Big Ross Stew­art is back on the grass doing light work and will slow­ly be rein­te­grat­ed back into the group.

“As I’ve said before, we shouldn’t expect too much from him. It’s great to have him back in amongst things.”

David Brooks was forced off through ill­ness in Wales’ Euro 2024 play­off final defeat against Poland on Tues­day evening.

Defend­er Jan Bednarek also had a bout of ill­ness while away with Poland, which con­tributed to him being with­drawn with 10 min­utes left at the Cardiff City Sta­di­um.

Daily Echo: David Brooks was withdraw having come on for Wales against PolandDavid Brooks was with­draw hav­ing come on for Wales against Poland (Image: PA)

Both are avail­able for tomor­row’s game, which is Southamp­ton’s first fix­ture in 20 days, hav­ing been assessed.

“Jan­ny took a kick in the first game for Poland before the Wales game. He man­aged to get through the game as good as he could,” Mar­tin con­tin­ued.

“He also felt a bit of a virus, the same as Brooksy. They have both been assessed yes­ter­day and look rea­son­ably good.

“We have to make sure we are com­plete­ly right, but they are both avail­able for tomor­row. They will both be involved. 

“I think Brooksy feels he could have played on a bit, but also under­stands that he wasn’t feel­ing at his best. He has been ill for three or four days in bed.

“Luck­i­ly for us, both are ready to be involved tomor­row. Rhys (Owen, head of con­di­tion­ing) was at the game and text us to say they are both off. Thank­ful­ly it’s pos­i­tive news.”