Aberdeen defender Dominic Ball has admitted that he was “shocked” by how bad Ryan Christie’s facial injury was.
The 24-year-old Celtic midfielder suffered multiple fractures after a sickening collision with Ball a fortnight ago, and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
But the Aberdeen ace, who was a former flatmate of Christie, has expressed his regret at the incident, and revealed that the two have been in contact since.
As quoted in the Scottish Sun, he said: “I’ve been in touch with him the whole time since it happened and it was disappointing that I had hurt him and he’s out for the rest of the season.?
“You forget all about the football when something like that happens and on that day it was more about how he was than anything else.?
“I was shocked when I saw the picture though because the previous week I had a collision with Ikpeazu of Hearts who went off and I hurt my head a little bit but this time there was nothing.?”
OPINION
Obviously Christie came off the worst out of the two players when they collided, but that doesn’t mean that Ball won’t feel terrible about it. Sometimes the most accidental, innocuous incidents can be the worst, and that was certainly the case here. There was no malice in what happened, and even if there was the slightest bit of grit, if Ball had known the consequences of the challenge, you can bet that he would never have even gone for it. It could quite easily have gone the other way, and it’s just a crying shame that it has impacted Christie so badly. Missing out on the Scottish Cup final will be a real disappointment for him, and the only consolation he can take is that it will give him plenty of opportunity to come back even stronger next season. Hopefully Christie’s recovery is a speedy one and he can be back at Parkhead as soon as possible.