Shea likely to miss Watford home match
Neal Ardley today said that goalkeeper James Shea is unlikely to feature in Wimbledon’s first pre-season friendly against Premier League Watford after he suffered an ankle injury in training.
Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Neal confirmed that the 24-year-old (pictured) is likely to sit out the home game on Saturday.
“James rolled his ankle in training when he was doing some work with ‘Bayzo’ today,” Neal said. “The ground is a little bit firm at this time of year and James just turned his ankle. There may be a chance that we do not risk him on Saturday.”
Neal had also intended to give game-time to Spanish defender Adrian Pazo during his trial spell with the Dons, but that plan has now been scuppered after he suffered an injury today.
“Adrian turned down a couple of contract offers from Spain because he wanted to come and play in England,” Neal revealed. “He was highly recommended to us and we got him in this week. The plan was to give him some game-time and take a look at him. Unfortunately, Adrian went into a tackle today a bit awkwardly and hurt his ankle. It looks like it could be a reasonably bad one and he could be out for four to six weeks.
“It is a bit of a blow for us because we wanted to see Adrian, but it is a major blow for him as he turned down offers to come here. He had been showing some nice signs. Stuart Douglas will take a look at Adrian again tomorrow, but I doubt we are going to actually see him now.”
Adrian Pazo has played in recent seasons for Segunda Division B side Coruxo FC after earlier spells with Celta Vigo B and Pontevedra.
New signings Karleigh Osborne, Tom Elliott, Jon Meades and Andy Barcham could all get run-outs this Saturday against Watford.
“We will try to mix it up,” added Neal. “There will be some youngsters as well as the senior boys and our new signings. It will be very much about giving everyone 45 minutes. We know how tough it will be with the signings that Watford have already made, but the aim for us is to get that little bit more fitness and to be competitive.”
The full interview with Neal Ardley is now on Dons Player.