Valencia’s injury list clears up with Copete, Foulquier and Rioja

Valencia are seeing progress in their injury room ahead of Javier Aguirre’s bench debut. On Thursday, Luis Rioja, José Copete and Dimitri Foulquier completed almost the whole session at Paterna, with the Sunday trip to El Sardinero against Racing de Santander in mind, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.

They were joined by Guido Rodríguez and Stole Dimitrievski, who returned to group training after international duty abroad. With Aguirre’s first match coming after two more sessions, the Mexican coach has been getting players back over the past two weeks.

Copete has been out for a long time due to a meniscus injury in his left knee. Foulquier’s issue is also in the left knee, while Rioja has been limited more recently by discomfort in the sole of his foot.

Guido Rodríguez came back after attending Leo Messi’s farewell with Argentina, and Dimitrievski was the last Valencian international to rejoin. Earlier, Ryunosuke Sato returned after asking his federation to let him come back early, and Aliou Dieng also rejoined.

Even with the positive news, Sadiq Umar, Diego López and Sergi Canós are still not ready. López, meanwhile, was operated on Tuesday in Madrid for a right-knee injury.