Man Utd ‘playing a game of whack-a-mole’ with Sesko injury as expert reveals nightmare scenario
Manchester United have been told they are always running the risk of recurrence when it comes to Benjamin Sekso’s ongoing shin injury, according to an expert who specialises in injury welfare.
After a strong second half of his maiden campaign at Old Trafford, hopes were high that Sesko would hit the ground running this time around.
But, having suffered a shin injury in the spring, he reaggravated the issue when landing heavily and sliding down Old Trafford’s famous slope around the edge of the pitch against Liverpool.
Sesko did not play a single minute of pre-season action over the summer months as he continued to recover from the issue.
That then led to a delay at the start of the campaign, although he was handed starts in the Champions League and Carabao Cup against Sabah and Brighton respectively.
However, after being left out completely for last Sunday’s trip to Fulham, alarm bells were ringing over the ongoing shin issue.
Indeed, it later emerged that Sesko had suffered a recurrence of the same shin issue, withdrawing from the Slovenia squad for the international break. The striker has since been undergoing tests back at Carrington, with a decision to be made on his recovery plan in due course.
Injury expert fears extended Sesko lay-off
His latest setback suggests that he should have been given more recovery time, with the potential of an extended lay-off bow on the cards.
And Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, informed Metro that United have effectively ben playing with fire when it comes to Sesko’s problem.
He said: “The risk is always there with recurrence. With injuries like this, you are playing a game of whack-a-mole.
“They can be very challenging. The first thing you try isn’t always going to be the thing that works.
“They will be assessing what they did the first time around and now looking at different options. I would be confident they won’t just be doing the same thing because that hasn’t fixed it. They will want to move on.
“Caution is the right word here. Given this has flared up again they will be inclined to be more cautious, not less.
“In terms of timelines, unless he responds incredibly quickly and very differently than last time around, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a similar time frame and similar time lost as we saw last time.”
United are due back in Premier League action when they host bottom-of-the-table Tottenham at Old Trafford on Saturday October 10.
