James Tavernier is going to be a miss over the next few weeks, there is absolutely no doubt about that although Leon Balogun has proved to be a more than able deputy so far.
On our budget, replacing a right-back with 17 goals and 15 assists is impossible, finding one who fits into our style of play is hard enough hence the reason Nathan Patterson was promoted to the first-team squad, because he can, but we all know why he won’t be available.
Steven Gerrard, after the 4-1 win against Dundee United, gave us some good news in that the skipper could be out for just a few weeks which helps when trying to assess what exactly he has done to himself.
The actual injury itself was caused by a block tackle mid-way through the first-half against Royal Antwerp, the problem with this sort of tackle is that the player doesn’t follow through, leaving the knee joint vulnerable and in Tavernier’s case, his right foot was almost at 90 degrees to his body at the point of contact, which led to his knee taking the brunt of the force.
A varus trauma is one that impacts the body from inside to out, however, with Tav, the injury was caused by the momentum of the knee with the ankle and hip joints remaining static, almost as if a player has stamped on the outside of the knee, making it a valgus trauma.
We’ve all heard about the cruciate ligaments where two of them within the knee joint help to stabilise the joint and prevent the femur (thigh bone) from moving too far forwards and backwards on the tibia (shin bone) but there are another two major ligaments that are in place to provide support on either side of the knee – the medial (MCL) and lateral collateral ligaments (LCL).
The medial is on the inside and lateral is on the outside of the knee and in Tavernier’s case everything points to him injuring the MCL because of the force coming from the opposite side and forcing the ligament past a range it is capable of going.
In terms of recovery, there are three grades of injury based on how many/what percentage of ligament fibres are affected, this also affects the rehabilitation protocol.
Grade 1 injuries are minor and can take less than a week to recover, almost like going over on your ankle on a kerb, Grade 2 are like a bad sprain where a period of around four weeks can be needed to return to full fitness and Grade 3 are the worst where any period from eight weeks can be needed depending on any surgical intervention may be needed. Complications usually only occur if muscle or cartilage issues are also present.
Have you been impressed with Balogun at right-back?
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The most worrying thing from my perspective is the mechanism of injury and then when he finally left the field, that a simple five yard pass was enough to cause him excruciating pain suggests at least a Grade 2 sprain.
Tavernier is a freak of nature and the fact that he has never had a serious injury before shows that he is made of stronger stuff with a solid immune and inflammatory process, the first game back after a period of four weeks you ask – the next Old Firm game and potentially the day we win title number 55, for a player who has suffered so much in a Light Blue shirt, a bit of devine intervention wouldn’t go a miss.