Curbs on pros and cons of international break

 
With many of the squad away on international duty, Alan Curbishley today expressed his thoughts on the pros and cons of a busy week of international fixtures.

"It can make life difficult," he admitted. "We don't see any of the players on international duty now until the Friday before we play Middlesbrough. On top of that they may come back injured. There are a lot of players missing and the big thing for me is that I've rarely had the opportunity to keep the same side twice.

"Even now when I think about the Middlesbrough game I can't be sure who's going to be available. It's difficult because we can't follow up the win against Blackburn with a good week's training.

"But we've all got to do that, every team has the same problem. Once we get back into it the Middlesbrough game will be a massive game for us. But they're all big now."

Curbs admitted he will be watching his players take to the field for their respective countries with some trepidation.

"I think the only thing we all wish for is that they come back fully fit," he said. "For example we've got Lucas Neill playing in China and got Jonathan Spector out in Tampa. All the players have to come back for the Friday morning, they'll probably be tired and jet-lagged and it's not conducive.

"A lot of clubs do take the view that perhaps they don't play all their international players when they come back simply because of that. I'm just hoping they stay fit and the rest of the players back home here stay fit and we've got a big squad that we can pick from."

But, Curbs added: "The gap, of having one game in a month, has helped us in a way. It has helped the likes of Nigel Quashie and Calum Davenport who have been injured. Luis Boa Morte has been unavailable for most of this month and it gives him the chance to get his fitness levels back up."