AC Milan boss Sergio Conceicao has confirmed that Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not feature against Cagliari this weekend due to injury.
The 28-year-old made his comeback from his previous setback in Riyadh as we secured the Italian Super Cup, and he will be desperate to push on and establish himself in Conceicao’s plans moving forward.
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Unfortunately, as per MilanNews, the Milan boss confirmed in his pre-match press conference ahead of our meeting with Cagliari on Saturday night that Loftus-Cheek has suffered a reoccurrence of his issue, and so he will play no part in our first Serie A game of the year.
“There’s a small problem with Ruben, he won’t be there for the match tomorrow,” Conceicao told the media. “He had a setback yesterday, it’s a shame because he was improving physically.
“Loftus-Cheek is not physically at his best. For me, everyone starts at the same level. Day by day I will see in training, it also depends on the strategy I have for each game, who can start and who can help from the bench. Nobody is an absolute starter, everyone has to fight for a place in the team.”
The English midfielder has made 21 appearances so far this season, and an argument can certainly be made that he has the characteristics and qualities to be a good fit for Conceicao’s system and style of play.
However, he has to stay fit in order to prove that, and so the timing of this fresh setback is a blow, as he now risks falling down the pecking order with others trying to impress in his absence.
Loftus-Cheek featured for 13 minutes in the final against Inter earlier this week, and so it looked as though he was on course to provide us with another fitness boost on our return to Italy.
It doesn’t appear as though that will be the case though, and so now it’s hoped that the severity of the latest problem isn’t bad enough to keep him out for a prolonged period of time, as we face Como in midweek next week before games against Juventus, Girona, Parma and Dinamo Zagreb prior to the end of the month.
With that in mind, Conceicao will undoubtedly hope that he has as close to a fully-fit squad at his disposal as possible for such a hectic schedule.
