Joe Allen set to miss Blackburn game, but very close to return

Joe Allen is set to be absent for Swansea City’s Championship clash with Blackburn Rovers, but is expected to be available to play next week.

The midfielder, 32, has been recovering from a hamstring injury suffered on international duty with Wales in June.

He has returned to full training with the rest of the first-team squad, but head coach Russell Martin does not want to give into the temptation to rush him back to action.

However, the Swans boss indicated Allen will be available for at least one of the away games at Oxford United and Blackpool next week.

“We are nearly there, Joe is the only one who will probably miss out. He will be back next week for sure, but Saturday will probably be too early for him,” said Martin.

“We are desperate to involve him, and he is desperate to be involved. But it’s a long season and we are conscious of what is going on in November (the World Cup) for him, too.

“So, we are treading carefully, but he will be back next week and everyone else is fit and well.

“Everyone has trained really well, Joe is in full training and he has really impressed us, but it’s about assessing the risk and picking the right moment.

“If we put him on the bench there would be a big temptation to use him, and it might be the case that it is better for Joe to have another really good training session on the Saturday morning with the other players not in the matchday squad.

“We don’t want to be tempted to use him more than we would ideally like to, but he is desperate to be involved.”