Better News On The Injury Front

Paulo Sousa has received a boost today with the news that Guillem Bauza and Gary Monk return to pre-season training ahead of schedule.

Both players had operations in the Summer to cure their injury problems. Monk struggled with a back injury towards the end of last season and Bauza had an ankle problem.

Both players are back earlier than expected, Monk trained today and Bauza will also join in on Friday.

Angel Rangel should also join up with his team-mates soon, having struggled with a groin problem this week.

There's also good news for Marcos Painter who's recovering well after he too had an operation recently. He suffered a cruciate ligament injury in October 2008 and missed the rest of the season.

Paulo Sousa also explained to the Official Site about their 7-day training camp in Portugal, which replaces the pre-planned visit to Sweden which has been cancelled.

'It's a great chance for me and Bruno (assistant-manager) to work closely with the players - on and off the field,''

'We will be having double training sessions most days, but the players were pleased to learn that we will continue to do everything with the ball.''

No friendly matches will be played during their time in Portugal.

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