Expert issues Celtic ‘red flag’ claim after Joe Hart latest – ‘he won’t agree with this’
The Celtic medical teams deserve credit for working under pressure to rule out any “red flags” after Joe Hart’s head injury in the 9-0 obliteration of Dundee United last Sunday (28 August).
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Play was stopped for seven minutes while Hart, 35, received treatment for a nasty gash he sustained in the process of saving a shot from United’s Steven Fletcher.
As quoted by football.scotland after the match, the shot-stopper reiterated that he had avoided serious injury, joking: “I’ve lost a few more strands of hair which I can’t afford but other than that I’m all good.”
Dinnery insists that, although Hart himself “might not agree” given the painful nature of the cut, it was a relief that the injury was only superficial.
“Joe Hart might not agree with this, but the fact that it was quite a painful but superficial cut to the head was a good thing,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Ultimately, the concern when anyone sees a head injury from a boot is a brain injury, trauma or concussion. This is an opportunity for the staff to go out there and do their stuff.
“While they’re doing this, they’re looking for obvious red flags, changes in behaviour, memory issues. They will have had conversations with Hart to make sure it was just a cut and nothing more. So, that is really good.
“In the world of elite sport, you have the eyes of the world on you. There is the crowd and also the referee who want to move things on.
“With that in mind, it’s important to be able to work in that high-pressure environment. But first and foremost, you have a duty of care to ensure that nothing more sinister has happened.”
In other news, Frank McAvennie tips Celtic to pull Giorgios Giakoumakis U-turn after latest.