Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is currently on the sidelines again after sustaining a muscular injury.
The Ghanian midfielder has been pencilled in to return within a fortnight but the Gunners are hopeful he will return earlier.
Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney faces a race against time to be fit for Thursday's Europa League clash against Benfica in Rome.
football.london sought the expert opinion of Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT to find out what exactly Partey's injury problem consists of, and gained further insight on why Premier League players are sustaining more injuries than they usually would at this time of the season.
What is Partey's injury?
Partey grabbed at the hamstring area prior to being subbed off and I actually commented on this. In terms of the hamstring injury, can be a sensitive injury because of the load placed on it but sounds like a grade 1 injury. The Arsenal physio staff have shown good results this season with Holding’s hamstring tear earlier this season in which he came back earlier than expected with no recurrence
Partey has had a difficult run with injuries this season. Why do you think he's been so susceptible to injuries this season?
Multiple factors at play here. First, we have the shortened turnaround to this season which means less recovery time. Secondly, a player transitioning to a new team and likely trying to make a good impression resulting in higher exertion & intensity. Thirdly, the player transitioning to a higher intensity league. Fourthly, once he picks up the first injury, now there’s inherent risk for re-injury and fluctuating fitness levels which then increase that risk even further
Can you talk a bit about the pressure that the players are under right now in regards to fixture congestion, being overworked etc? What affect does that have on their bodies?
The workload is unprecedented right now considering the restart into a very short off-season and straight away into a congested season - and then Euros and Copa America in the summer. It results in significant physical and mental fatigue, a lot of red zone or near red zone players. I imagine Tierney is there right now
Do you foresee more players sustaining injuries over the next few weeks as the hectic schedule continues?
Absolutely and that’s why none of these injuries surprise me (other than contact injuries, although you can argue that tired players results in worse decision-making and thus more rash challenges, poorer reaction times to get away from challenged...it’s all interconnected). For example, PLInjuries’ Ben Dinnery shared some data with me that in February thus far, there’s one injury every 63 minutes of play which is very high.
