2 more Arsenal loanees struck down with worrying injuries
The injury blows just keep coming for Arsenal loanees right now, with James Olayinka and Tyreece John-Jules set for potential spells on the sidelines.
Already this weekend we’ve learned of an injury setback for Jordi Osei-Tutu, but it seems two more loanees are set to join him after Saturday’s action.
Southend United boss Mark Molesley didn’t give a positive assessment of James Olayinka’s problem after their draw with Grimsby Town on Saturday.
“It was quite a nasty one for James and he’s in some pain in there,” said Molesley. “He tried to run it off but it got worse and now he’s stopped it’s got even worse again.
“He got away from the man and somehow the player has trod on his ankle. We’re icing it and hopefully, it’s bad bone bruising or a little bit of ligament damage, but it was not ideal losing a player so early on.”
Meanwhile, Tyreece John-Jules came off with just 10 minutes to go of Doncaster Rovers’ win over Swindon Town. He seemingly pulled up with a hamstring injury, which is never a good sign.
Once again, his manager didn’t seem hugely optimistic about the problem, though he admitted they don’t know the full facts just yet.
“Obviously it didn’t look good, him pulling up like that, but I like to give it 24 to 48 hours,” Darren Moore said afterwards. “The physio always says to give it that time.
“Rather than making a knee-jerk reaction, we’ll wait to see what the physio says over the next couple of days about what the prognosis is on that one.”
There’s particular frustration with these two injuries because they’re both players who are featuring regularly for their clubs whenever they’re fit.
Olayinka has only missed a couple of games all season, making 15 appearances since mid-October. John-Jules has appeared in all 13 of the games he’s been fit for, despite missing most of October and November with another injury.
Unfortunately, they’re now likely to miss a few more weeks of action.