If Steve Bruce had announced on Wednesday morning that David Meyler would be out for 10 weeks and Danny Welbeck for three, we’d have been horrified.
Having been prepared for so much worse, we can almost treat it as good news. Meyler, we feared, had done his knee ligament again, the crumpled heap into which he fell at Villa Park looking at best rest-of-the-season, at worst rest-of-
career. Welbeck, it was speculated, would be sidelined for up to eight weeks with a torn hamstring.
So we must welcome small mercies, though it is actually a big one in the case of young Meyler.
This is what Bruce says about him following medical examination of the injury:
“The specialist has confirmed that David has stretched his knee ligament but fortunately there’s no rupture, which is wonderful news for us and of course for the boy.
He’ll be in a leg brace for 6 weeks and we anticipate he’ll be on the sidelines for around 10 weeks in total, which is nowhere as bad as we initially feared, thanks goodness.”
Meyler has shown the skill and aptitude of a really good Premier League player. We are delighted the injury at Aston Villa now looks unlikely to obstruct his progress beyond another layoff for recovery and physiotherapy. And we fully expect to see Welbeck make a storming finish to the season once he is back in the team.
Good luck to both of them.
Monsieur Saluti