Round-up: Caulker plays, QPR injury latest, Kalas wants Chelsea future, Gould loses
Steven Caulker returned to action for QPR’s development side in a friendly at Billericay Town.
Caulker played 70 minutes of the pre-season match on Tuesday evening – his first outing since recently returning to training after speaking about his mental health issues and addictions to gambling and alcohol.
The defender, 25, has not made a first-team appearance for Rangers since October last year.
QPR won the match 5-1. Aramide Oteh scored twice and there were also goals for Axel Prohouly, Eberechi Eze and Reece Grego-Cox.
Training pitch is too hard – Holloway
Ian Holloway believes the condition of the pitches at QPR’s training ground has contributed to Grant Hall’s injury problems.
Hall has been struggling with tendonitis and manager Holloway says the hard surface at Rangers’ Harlington base, which is owned by Imperial College, is having an adverse affect.
“It’s our training pitch, which is very, very firm and it’s not helped with this,” Holloway said.
“It’s the amount of water that we can put on that pitch that isn’t enough, so it’s ongoing issues. The training ground isn’t ours, so we’re looking into that.”
Cousins latest
QPR are assessing how long Jordan Cousins is likely to be sidelined with his latest injury.
Holloway believes the midfielder could be unavailable for up to six weeks, but the Rangers manager is awaiting a verdict from the club’s medical staff.
Cousins has another hamstring injury, having been plagued by a similar problem soon after his move to Loftus Road from Charlton last year.
He then missed the second half of last season with a thigh injury but hopes were high that he would start the new campaign fully fit.
“He probably won’t be available for five or six weeks, but I need to check that with my physio,” said Holloway.
“We didn’t anticipate it (another injury), the way he was looking and the way he was moving.
“But the boy is in a great state of mind because he knows it’s not the same injury it was before.
“If it was the same injury as before then that would be more worrying. This is a different thing, so that’s unlucky.
“He’s in a fantastic place in his head, because he’s starting to believe he’s the fantastic athlete he is.”
Kalas sees future at Chelsea
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Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas says he turned down interest from Hull City and Premier League clubs to re-sign on loan for Fulham.
Kalas, 24, helped the Whites reach the Championship play-offs last season, playing 40 times in all competitions.
“I was fighting to get back to Fulham,” he said.
“There were other options that made sense as well, but in terms of this league I didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“Hull was an option and they’re going to have a strong team. I have been touch with different clubs as well from the Premier League but that was all stuck at the one point and didn’t go any further.
“But I knew everything at Fulham – the way we play, what position I will have here. That was kind of decisive in my decision.”
Kalas signed a new four-year deal at Stamford Bridge this summer and feels he can one day become a regular despite having made just three first-team appearances.
“Now, it looks like an impossible thing but I wouldn’t have signed a contract [otherwise]. People don’t know what conversations there are between player and the club,” he said.
“I’m quite pleased that I went to China and Singapore. I think I’m the fittest I’ve ever been and training with these players is always a lesson for me.
“I got fit and I gained some experienced from Antonio Conte and his methods.
“I was learning every day, but at the end of the day it’s about playing time and I knew that I would get it at Fulham.”
Bees sign youngster
Danish youth international Mads Bech Sørensen has signed a four-year contract with Brentford.
The 18-year-old defender, who joins from AC Horsens for an undisclosed fee, will be part of the club’s B team.
Sendles-White joins Orient
Leyton Orient have signed Jamie Sendles-White on a one-year deal.
The defender, from Kingston, was a free agent having left Swindon Town at the end of last season.
He started his career at QPR, where he was included in the first-team squad for a number of games but did not make an appearance.
Gould loses
Pinner’s Martin Gould lost 4-1 to world number 106 Soheil Vahedi in the qualifiers for the Indian Open on Tuesday.
Gould, the world number 17, took the opening frame in Preston with a break of 68.
But 28-year-old Iranian Vahedi – who has turned professional after winning the World Amateur Championship last November – responded with breaks of 71 and 62 to take the lead.
He then won the match thanks to a 55, inflicting Gould’s second defeat in three matches this season.
