Samuel Kalu: Bordeaux star available for Lorient clash

Samuel Kalu is available to face Terem Moffi’s Lorient in Ligue 1 on Sunday, Jean-Louis Gasset has confirmed.

There were question marks over the Nigeria international’s availability having only returned to training last week following a spell on the sidelines with a thigh injury.

He is, however, fit enough to be part of the squad for the trip to Stade du Moustoir, with the manager ruling out Otavio, Laurent Koscielny and Nicolas de Preville against Christophe Pelissier’s side.

"We've been working on a lot of things, but there are small problems,” Gasset told the media during Thursday’s press conference.

“Jovanovic will not be travelling with Koscielny and Otavio. De Preville felt a little discomfort behind the knee yesterday, this morning we saved it.

“And then Kalu will return to the squad. Kalu did a [good] week [of training]. Kalu is Kalu. He is in the group of players [called for the match]. He's pulling up the attacking line.”

Playing in his 18th league game of the 2020-21 campaign in the 3-1 defeat of Dijon, the Super Eagle was replaced in the 16th minute by Nicolas de Preville on March 14.

Subsequently, that knock prevented him from featuring for Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures against Benin Republic and Lesotho, on March 27 and 30, respectively.

For the Girondins, the winger has since missed their last four games against Montpellier, Strasbourg, Saint-Etienne and AS Monaco - which all ended in defeats.

The former AS Trencin star began his struggles with a thigh injury in October during Nigeria’s international friendly outing against Algeria, which kept him on the treatment table for over a month.

He returned to action on November 20 in the Bordeaux 1-0 win at Rennes, but the injury reoccurred seven days later and put him on the sidelines for another long period, and he made his return in a goalless draw against Metz on January 6.

The 23-year-old suffered a setback again in February during Jean-Louis Gasset's men's 3-0 loss to Lille but he shook it off and made an immediate recovery to his team a week later.

So far this season, Kalu has contributed four goals and an assist in 18 Ligue 1 games for the French elite division side.

As it stands, Bordeaux occupy 16th position in the Ligue 1 log after amassing 36 points from 33 fixtures.