James Tavernier has opened up regarding injury concerns prior to the World Cup break with the captain insisting that he was very reluctant to miss any games.
Despite assurances from the skipper and then-manager Gio van Bronckhorst that he was fine and fit to play, there were a few visible signs that all was not well with the Yorkshireman, particularly with his movement and the absence of his usual dynamism on the pitch.
The last few weeks have provided space for downtime, rest and recuperation. Now the long-serving Ranger appears ready to seize the initiative under new boss Michael Beale as reported by the Glasgow Times:
“You have to play through injuries and knocks here and there but if you ask any footballer, in a team there are not many players that will come back and say they are 100 per cent.”
“I want to play every single minute and try and give my all for the team. You could say that (it was a captain’s duty] but I think it’s just me as a person. I have always been like that, I always give my all and never back away from anything.
“Maybe (it was restricting me) at the start. The first one was maybe the Ajax game when I got brought off and I was probably feeling it more.”
“As time went on, it eased off. It wasn’t really impacting me too much.”
Danger
A big concern amongst the fans was that Tavernier could be running himself into the ground, with a chance of long-term injury or harm as Gio insisted that everything was ok.
We saw last season that Alfredo Morelos played on with a complaint for too long and it would have been a shame if the same had happened to another key figure. The situation is heightened with a lack of options in the right-back position with only Adam Devine in reserve. He has not yet been properly tested or proven to be ready for the top team but now finds himself ready to step in at left-back with both Borna Barisic and Ridvan Yilmaz unavailable.
It will be interesting to see the impact of Tavernier over the next few weeks, who is now hopefully free of any such knocks to allow him to get back to his best. Beale will also be keen for his captain to be giving his all in what is a crucial period ahead.