‘Naturally fit’ Tonge is perfect fit for busy Warnock

NEIL Warnock insists the fitness of new Leeds United signing Michael Tonge will not be a problem despite the midfielder not having played a senior game since the end of last season.

The 29-year-old has moved to Elland Road on loan from Stoke City until mid-December after United lost David Norris and Paul Green to injury.

Tonge was one of several targets being courted by Warnock, who worked with the midfielder at Sheffield United. He last played a senior game in April when on loan at Barnsley but the Leeds chief has no concerns about throwing the loanee straight into tomorrow’s Championship game at Cardiff City.

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He said: “Tonge is good on the ball and he has got plenty of energy so he is an ideal replacement for Norris and Green. He has got something to prove and he knows me well. He ticked all the boxes.

“We have worked together before and that is what clinched it for me. I spoke to three or four players, but I feel he is at the right stage to have a go again.

“He has been at Stoke for quite a while and not played much. The team we have got will complement him. All the lads I looked at had different strengths. A couple of them we couldn’t afford.

“I was after a lad from the Premier League – not (Jermaine) Jenas, a younger lad. But we had to pay his full wages and it was too much for us. I wasn’t going to pay silly money for the sake of it, even though he would have been my No 1 choice.”

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Tonge’s last game for Stoke came in January, 2011, against Cardiff in the FA Cup, while his most recent Premier League outing came the previous August against Tottenham Hotspur.

Warnock added: “He’s played in four games for the (Stoke) Under-21s and they are tough matches. He pulled out on Wednesday because I didn’t want him to get injured but I don’t think his fitness will be that much in question. He has always been a naturally fit lad.

“He is only 29, which I can’t believe. You’d think he was 39 because he has been off the radar for a while, but he just needs an opportunity.

“He knows what I think about him and it is good for a player when he knows his manager rates him. He also knows how I play so it is not a matter of explaining things to him.

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“That helps because I don’t really have time to run him through everything. There is too much going on at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Ramon Nunez is out for the season after rupturing his cruciate in a development squad match with Wigan.

Warnock added: “It is disappointing as Ramon has not been part of my plans and never will be. I was hoping Ramon would have left the club earlier in the summer and it now looks like he won’t be leaving until the end of this season at least.”