TOWN FACE WAIT ON MCATEE
HURST HOPES STRIKER WILL BE FIT TO FACE CAMBRIDGE UNITED
GRIMSBY Town talisman John McAtee could miss today’s FA Cup clash at Cambridge United.
Paul Hurst reported that he has struggled to train since Tuesday night’s game against Accrington Stanley after picking up a knock. The Mariners have just got the 23-year-old back in the last couple of weeks after recovering from shoulder surgery, and will want to get the most out of their start frontman before the end of the season when he returns to parent club Luton Town. McAtee was dropped to the bench in the Papa John’s Trophy defeat in midweek but did come on in the second half after he started in the league last weekend for the first time since his return.
Hurst is confident the issue that has kept him out of training is just a knock that will subside by Saturday but has not yet decided how much of a role, if any, the forward will play against Cambridge.
“He didn’t train [on Thursday] as he was hobbling around a little bit,” admitted Hurst to BBC Radio Humberside.
“He’ll definitely want to try and play [against Cambridge] whether that is the right decision from the player’s point of view will remain to be seen.
“Hopefully it is just a contact injury which we initially thought it was and when it comes to it he will be ready. “We’ve all had knocks and bumps, but once you get warm and running around you can forget about it quite quickly and it goes away, and hopefully, that is the case [with McAtee]. “Genuinely speaking, he definitely was not moving around as freely as you would want him to which is why he didn’t train [on Thursday] but fingers crossed he will be okay for Saturday.”
In another injury news, Hurst provided an update on skipper Luke Waterfall who was absent from the matchday squad on Tuesday, as well as full-backs Anthony Glennon and Jordan Cropper, who have both picked up fresh hamstring injuries in recent weeks.
Hurst added: “Luke [Waterfall] is fine, it was more a case of giving him a rest as he has played a lot of football and been a mainstay in the team so I wanted to see more of the other two centre-backs playing together in a four which I did in the second half [against Accrington].
“[Anthony Glennon] has been out on the grass for the first time doing some running, which I would think is a positive sign, but usually it would be another 10 days to two weeks before he is back in full training.
“Jordan [Cropper] is out because of his hamstring which is a concern considering he has had similar injuries.
“I’ve seen him in the gym, but it’ll be some time before he is back out on the grass.”