Maccabi Haifa received a welcome update on Omri Glazer's fitness on Sunday, with the club reporting a significant improvement in the goalkeeper's injured leg less than a week after he was carried off in tears.
Glazer went down clutching his knee during Maccabi Haifa's Toto Cup defeat to Ironi Kiryat Shmona after a collision with his own teammate, defender Wanderson, who caught him awkwardly in the challenge. The initial concern inside the club was serious enough that imaging was ordered to establish the extent of the damage.
ONE now reports that Glazer took part in a partial training session and, if he comes through a full workout on Sunday unscathed, coach Barak Bakhar could risk him in the squad for Tuesday's Toto Cup fixture against Ironi Tiberias.
There was better news, too, on the defensive side. Brazilian centre-back Pedrão trained on Saturday after his own spell out and is set to take part in Bakhar's final pre-match session, positioning him as a genuine option to displace the young Noam Shtaifman in the starting line-up. Nigel Lonwijk is also being tried out in that role as Bakhar weighs his options at the back.
Wanderson himself remains sidelined, still working his way back from a concussion sustained in the same passage of play that injured Glazer, according to ONE.
Elsewhere in the squad, Andrea Novakovic is unavailable after picking up a virus, while winger Manuel Benson is being gradually integrated into the group and is expected to eventually take over from Cedric Don on the right flank.
Summer signing Yair Mordechai, who scored twice during Maccabi Haifa's training camp in Hungary, has been left out of consecutive sessions, an indication of just how stiff the competition for places has become in Bakhar's squad ahead of the new season.
The Toto Cup meeting with Ironi Tiberias offers Bakhar a chance to rotate and assess his options before Israeli league football resumes, with Glazer's potential return the headline development to watch.
