Petrov Relieved By Downing Return

Stiliyan Petrov was relieved to see Stewart Downing make his return to the pitch in our last match as he doesn't like seeing players injured when he had a part in it.

Downing made his return to football and made his debut for us (just for you Gordon! lol) in our 1-1 all draw against Burnley last weekend, after sustaining a foot fracture following a challenge from Petrov in our match against Boro last May.

Speaking to the Express and Star our Captain said how happy he was to see Downing return, especially because of how much the player loves to play football - admitting that it's never nice seeing players out injured when you were involved.

'He's raring to go and now we're looking forward to seeing him in action. I think he's going to add something very special to our team.'

Downing could well be in line for his full debut this weekend against Spurs following his surprise inclusion in the Burnley squad.

Petrov says categorically that Downing has worked hard to get fit again and to come back that quick having had a 6 month lay off with injury, I think the phrase would be worked bloody hard to be fair. Nobody expected him to be in the squad for Burnley but with the 20 odd minutes he had, I wouldn't bet against him starting.

In fact it would be the perfect boost for the crowd for the Spurs match given their small victory over Wigan!

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