Harry Souttar is set to make his long-awaited return to the pitch for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury in November 2021.
Stoke City manager Alex Neil confirmed that the Subway Socceroos defender has 'been making good progress' in full training, and will be in action for the club's U21's side in the coming week.
Souttar's return to play will mark his first match minutes since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during Australia's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia last year.
“Harry has been training fully with us now and he’s been making good progress but, as I’ve said before, we’re at that tail end now of his recovery and we don’t want to rush that," Stoke boss Neil shared. "He’ll be ready when he’s ready. He’ll feature in a game potentially next week and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
The manager also shared an insight into the defender's recovery process.
“It’s strange for us because you talk about Harry as if he’s been missing and on a desert island for the last year. We see him every day!"
"He’s in with us, he’s training with us, he’s in the gym, he’s in the treatment room. For us, it’s not abnormal but I appreciate for everyone else it’s as if he’s been missing for the last 12 months.
“He’s been training, he’s had plenty of time to get to the point he’s at the moment and we just need to make sure we continue to treat him with care and due diligence in this last vital bit. This is the key bit to transition from this final stage of rehab to go into competitive action. We don’t want to rush that.”
With the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ just a matter of weeks away, Neil explained why Socceroos remains in contention for a perfectly-timed return to the international stage.
“I think at this point we’re a month away and he’s at the last stages," he said.
"If he plays next week then he’s still got another three weeks and arguably Harry could fit in four or five games in that period. If you come through four or five games then there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be available at that point.
“That side of it is between Harry and the Australia manager. What I hope for Harry is that if we can get him fit and playing as early as possible he can do a job for us.
“Hopefully the World Cup can put him in a better place by the end of it. If that helps him and helps us, brilliant.”
Souttar is expected to feature as Stoke City's U-21s face Nottingham Forest on Monday night (Tuesday, October 18, 5am AEST), before taking on Sunderland a week later.