Celtic defender Kieran Tierney has cast fears over his future fitness after being ruled out of action with a pelvic injury this season.
The left back was forced to the sidelines for 10 weeks with his injury blow but has returned to the side to take back his spot in the starting XI.
With no surgery taking place, instead being given the time off to naturally recover, Tierney insists everything is fine for now but does worry it could flair up in the future.
He told the Scottish Sun: “It was unfortunate for me that I had ten weeks out, but that’s football. It was always just rest I needed. There is nothing you can do for the problem other than rest.”
“There is no operation that would have been helpful in any way for it. It was just overused and the ten weeks did me the world of good. Today I actually feel all right with it. It’s perfect.
“Maybe next season with all those games so tight together again it could feel a bit achy. Walking around was fine, but I just couldn’t play to my full capacity.
“When you are at Celtic, you need to be able to do that. In the left-back position as well, you need to be able to get up and down the pitch for 90 minutes. If I can’t do that, then that’s a big chunk of my game missing. You don’t want that.”
Opinion
The last thing Tierney wants is an injury problem which plagues his career so the sooner this issue is sorted out, the better. He is still a young talent who is dazzling in the top flight in Scotland and anything that remains with him is going to limit his ability to hit the heights expected of him. Still, he seems quietly confident that the worst of it is behind him and often the psychological barrier of an injury can be just as prohibitive as the physical pain. It could be that Tierney is playing with that niggling doubt at the back of his mind for the next year, worrying that this problem is going to arise once again and push him onto the sidelines once again. He just needs to manage his workload sensibly and make sure that he takes the necessary breaks to avoid suffering the same problem. Celtic are a club where the players are pushed to the maximum – so maybe Tierney should ask for a rest here and there, just to avoid any future problems.