Afobe and Palmer eager to be reunited on pitch
IT’S been eight months since Bristol City fans were able to celebrate a goal scored by Benik Afobe and although the on-loan striker has only ever claimed three in a Robins’ shirt, absence has made the heart grow fonder.
With personal tragedy, following the death of daughter Amora, and his ACL injury sustained in September, City supporters have united behind his comeback story, despite him remaining contracted to Stoke City.
After a lengthy and intensive rehab, Afobe returned to training with the rest of the squad this week at Failand and with Championship football expected to return in mid to late June, has time to build his fitness levels to match-ready status.
The prospect of Afobe lining up in the Robins attack once again has many fans excited but also with the opportunity of seeing him work in tandem with Kasey Palmer, the duo proving so potent in August and early September before the striker’s injury.
Their friendship is well-established, as is their connection on the field and Callum O’Dowda has revealed the pair have been working on new celebration routines during the lockdown, presumably choreographed on Zoom and Facetime, which they hopefully will be able to unveil during City’s final nine matches.
“I know Kasey and Benik have practised a few things,” said O’Dowda, speaking to the Robins Nest podcast about goal celebrations. “I don’t where they have, because I haven’t see it on the training ground. But I think a few players probably just go on FIFA and look at possible goal celebrations and think, ‘that looks great, we’ll give it a go’. The knee slide is normally an easy one.”
It’s a largely trivial slice of information but shows how eager and confident Afobe is of making his return in a red shirt, as and when the season restarts.
City remain in the play-off mix, just one point outside the top six, and although the prospect of returning to competitive action behind closed doors is a different experience, the target for the team remains the same. As Lee Johnson has said on a number of occasions, the break in play could actually be of benefit to City in terms of getting players back fit and working on the team cohesion as O’Dowda revealed players have been working in small groups depending on their position.
And the Republic of Ireland international believes the intensive fitness programmes City underwent throughout the lockdown has put them in the best possible shape to hit the ground running.
“We always go into the season really strong, we always start really well,” O’Dowda said. “Fitness-wise and physical-wise, and credit to all the staff at the club.”