Other than the medium-term foot injury suffered by first-year pro Kai Nugent, United head into the League One opener this weekend with a near clean bill of health, despite some illness concerns for a couple of the lads earlier in the week.
“Callum Guy has been ill this week, he had a bit of tonsilitis, but he was back in full training today,” manager Paul Simpson said. “He missed a few days, we think we caught his tonsilitis very early with antibiotics.
“We just need to see how he is after the session today and how he is tomorrow as to whether he’s got the energy to be available on Saturday.
“Jack Robinson missed Saturday’s game with a bit of illness but he was back in on Monday and has trained all week.
“Dan Butterworth has done a rehab session today and he’ll join back in with the group on Friday. We’re just having to manage it with him because he missed three weeks of football when he came in to us.
“He probably did a little bit too much because he was maybe a bit too eager to impress. He also got a knee up the backside against Newcastle at Gateshead, which was really painful.
“I think there was probably an underlying issue that he took into Chorley and he felt it there. We’ve now managed that, the medical department has managed that really well, so he’s available.
“It was a dead bum cheek, right underneath the top of his hamstring, and he was in a lot of pain. That happened literally 30 seconds after going on the pitch. He struggled through it. It woke him up a little bit but he’ll be fine, he’ll get over it, and I know he wants to be involved.
“Kai Nugent is still a good few weeks away, that’s taking a bit longer than we thought and he hasn’t been back out on the grass yet.”
The relatively clean bill of health poses some real selection posers on the eve of the new campaign.
“We’re in a good state, we’ve got the bulk of the squad available and I’ve got decisions to make,” he agreed. “If I take Dan out of the mix there are probably four or five who are going to be disappointed to not be in the 18 on Saturday but, as I keep saying, it’s about having a squad.
“There are a couple where we need to manage their match and training loads because of the stages they’re at in terms of fitness, but apart from that we’re in a good position.
“It gives us good options. We’ve had to manage pre-season a little bit because of the length of time the lads have had off.
“They had a four-week break from full training but they only had about 10 days where they didn’t do anything because they were back into the programme to reintroduce themselves back into it.
“It’s been a different type of pre-season so we just hope we’ve got the right amount of work into them to get them ready to start.
“I said last year, they’re not ready to peak at this moment and there’s no point peaking at the start of August if come November and December they’re shot to pieces.
“We have to make sure we have a steady build up. They’re fit enough to start the game at the weekend and fit enough to get through the first few weeks of the season, then we’ll keep building and hope we’re ready to peak at the right time.”