Coventry City
skipper Gary McAllister has bounced back from a worrying injury to put his pre-season
training back on course.
The Scot was the victim of a reckless tackle in City’s first match of their
Germany tour against FV Speyer on Monday, leaving him doubtful for the remainder of the
trip.
But Sky Blues chairman Bryan Richardson has revealed that 35-year-old McAllister has
surprised everyone and could be in line to play in tonight’s game against Karlsruhe.
He said:
"He did take a nasty bang but I spoke to Gordon Strachan last night and he was
delighted to report that Gary had trained twice yesterday, which does not surprise me
because he is a very strong character.
"I think the initial reaction was probably one of shock but luckily it sounds as
if Gary rode the tackle very well, otherwise the outcome could have been far worse.
"I don’t know for sure but I fancy he will take some part tonight because he
only played two minutes on Monday, so I would think he may play a half tonight."
Richardson also revealed that the club are close to completing the deal to bring
Moroccan international Mustapha Hadji to Highfield Road.
City have agreed a fee of £4 million with Hadji’s current club Deportivo La
Coruna and are now in the initial stages of personal terms, but the chairman is confident
he will get his man.
He said:
"I will meet Mustapha Hadji and his agents in the team hotel in Germany tomorrow
and hopefully we can sit down and try and work a personal contract out with him.
"We are a fair way away but if the intent is there to do it then you usually
arrive at something that is acceptable to both, at the moment there is quite a gap but
that is par for the course."
And Richardson is in no doubt about how important Hadji’s capture would be to the
Sky Blues.
"The guy is an outstanding footballer. Hadji gets a high percentage of goals and
he has scored in his career an average of one goal every four games, which is excellent.
"He has an ideal attitude, speaks perfect English and as a player he is
world-class - which you cannot beat."
