Joe Cole should not be too far away from returning to first team
action, says physio John Green.
He had hoped to be involved at the weekend, but his training schedule was interrupted this week, and John explains:
"It's not a setback as such, it is just that he did some straight line running last week and to which there wasn't really any reaction to that at all, but on Saturday morning we we did some twisting and turning which was high level stuff.
"Joe then travelled to the game on Sunday and felt a little bit stiff in his feet.
"On the Monday when he went to strike the ball he was concerned that he wasn't 100%.
"He felt pain on the outside of the foot, which he had felt originally, but hadn't been a problem for quite a while.
"The other problem, the inside of the foot, has completely healed, so he was a bit disappointed that the scenario repeated itself.
"But he went to see a foot specialist, David Grace, on Tuesday, and then the podiatrist on Wednesday.
"He had a painkilling injection between the toes to kill off the last bit of discomfort.
"He is resting today and will resume on Friday, then it will be a case of him training next week and being available for the following weekend.
"I think he will have to spend a few days training to make sure it is actually better; a lot of it will be psychological now, making sure that he is not reticent to put his weight through it.
"After the level of work he was doing last Saturday I would expect him to be fully fit later next week.
"It is just a case of reassuring him and going to see all the specialists that have seen him to date.
"All of them have said he has improved and although we're concerned it is right but it is not a long term problem, just a case of Joe acclimatising."
Of the other injuries, he says:
"Ian Pearce is progressing as we would expect him to, Steve Lomas is doing fine, as is David James.
"Rigo had a mild ankle sprain, nothing significant, and is training now.
"I don't think he will be playing at the weekend, though, as there are enough players available not to rush people back.
"He will be looking at a reserve game next week."
He had hoped to be involved at the weekend, but his training schedule was interrupted this week, and John explains:
"It's not a setback as such, it is just that he did some straight line running last week and to which there wasn't really any reaction to that at all, but on Saturday morning we we did some twisting and turning which was high level stuff.
"Joe then travelled to the game on Sunday and felt a little bit stiff in his feet.
"On the Monday when he went to strike the ball he was concerned that he wasn't 100%.
"He felt pain on the outside of the foot, which he had felt originally, but hadn't been a problem for quite a while.
"The other problem, the inside of the foot, has completely healed, so he was a bit disappointed that the scenario repeated itself.
"But he went to see a foot specialist, David Grace, on Tuesday, and then the podiatrist on Wednesday.
"He had a painkilling injection between the toes to kill off the last bit of discomfort.
"He is resting today and will resume on Friday, then it will be a case of him training next week and being available for the following weekend.
"I think he will have to spend a few days training to make sure it is actually better; a lot of it will be psychological now, making sure that he is not reticent to put his weight through it.
"After the level of work he was doing last Saturday I would expect him to be fully fit later next week.
"It is just a case of reassuring him and going to see all the specialists that have seen him to date.
"All of them have said he has improved and although we're concerned it is right but it is not a long term problem, just a case of Joe acclimatising."
Of the other injuries, he says:
"Ian Pearce is progressing as we would expect him to, Steve Lomas is doing fine, as is David James.
"Rigo had a mild ankle sprain, nothing significant, and is training now.
"I don't think he will be playing at the weekend, though, as there are enough players available not to rush people back.
"He will be looking at a reserve game next week."