Medical Insider issues ‘sinister’ claim after Aaron Cresswell latest from West Ham – ‘I understand…’
West Ham were right to take Aaron Cresswell off early on in their 4-2 friendly win over Cambridge United on Tuesday (6 December) because they may have presented a “sinister” injury.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Cresswell was replaced after just 16 minutes at the Abbey after suffering a hamstring injury.
As quoted by football.london after the game, West Ham assistant coach Mark Warburton insisted the decision was a precaution.
“There’s no need to take any risk in non-competitive games,” Dinnery told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“It was a little bit of a hamstring issue, I understand, and he’s no stranger to the odd muscle or soft tissue injury.
“Of course, when a player complains or suggests that he’s felt something, the best decision to take is to just take him straight off, especially when you’ve got Emerson to come on in his place.
“The conditions themselves didn’t exactly help it. If your mobility is affected and you’re not fully warmed up and ready to stretch those legs, then the potential implications are something more sinister or long-term.
“Hopefully that decision was taken with one eye on it being a meaningless game, a training ground run out to build a little bit of fitness.
“What you don’t want is a player potentially suffering a serious injury which could rule him out for the remainder of the year.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has tipped an “auction” for West Ham as the “deal of the century” is cited.