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What's the story?
Former Manchester United star Wes Brown had been sidelined from Kerala Blasters' first couple of matches of ISL 2017 due to an injury. Now, however, the ex-England international is said to have fully recovered from his injury and is set to rejoin his team ahead of their home fixture against Mumbai City FC.
In case you didn't know
Wes Brown is one of the biggest stars to be playing in the ISL this season, having starred for Premier League giants Manchester United, earlier in his career. However, with the advance of age, he has been a bit injury-prone.
The heart of the matter
After having missed out on the action towards the start of the season, Brown is now all set to return to the pitch and has been training for a week, according to sources close to the club.
Although Brown has been injured, Kerala Blasters have not really been troubled in defence, with the likes of Sandesh Jhingan and Nemanja Lakic-Pesic keeping attackers at bay. However, he does bring in loads of experience to the team.
But when Brown does return to the squad, the question remains as to how to integrate him into the defensive lineup. It would be interesting to see whether manager Meulensteen is prepared to bench the in-form Lakic-Pesic, in order to inculcate Brown into his starting XI.
What next?
The Kerala Blasters team will next face Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, on Sunday. Mumbai City have had an up-and-down start to their season with a 0-2 loss to Bengaluru, a 2-1 win over FC Goa and a 1-2 loss to Pune City FC in the Maharashtra Derby. Kerala's advantage is that they have not lost a match yet, but on the other hand, Mumbai do have one win under their belt.
Sportskeeda's take
The return of Wes Brown into the action will be a welcome piece of news to the Kerala Blasters. Can his comeback turn things around? Is he the missing piece of the puzzle? Only time can tell.
