Leeds United sweat on Byram’s fitness for pre-season
YEP 13/6/13
Leeds United are crossing their fingers that Sam Byram will be ready for the early stages of pre-season, with the youngster fighting to overcome a persistent hip injury.
Byram is in the hands of United’s physiotherapy staff after worries over his fitness led him to withdraw from England’s squad for the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.
The 19-year-old was due to fly to the continent with the rest of England’s players yesterday morning but he dropped out of Peter Taylor’s 21-man pool amid doubts about him recovering in time to feature heavily in the group stages of the tournament.
The Football Association refused to comment on the injury suffered by Byram but United manager Brian McDermott confirmed to the YEP that the right-back is struggling with the same problem that forced him to miss the last two games of the recent Championship season.
Byram sat out United’s meetings against Brighton and Watford with an injury sustained in training on April 26. It flared up less than an hour before United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton, forcing McDermott into a last-minute change to his line-up.
McDermott said: “It’s his hip again, the same problem he had towards the end of the season.
“We’re giving him a thorough check over to see how he is and what we’re looking at.” Asked if Byram was likely to be fit for the first day of pre-season training on June 27, McDermott said: “We’d obviously hope so.”
Byram coped with heavy physical demands during the 2012-13 season as his first campaign as a professional brought him 53 senior appearances for Leeds, more than any other player.
The injury that he sustained ahead of the Brighton game broke a run of successive league starts stretching back to the middle of September. But he appeared to have recovered from his hip complaint last month and joined up with England’s Under-20 squad with McDermott’s blessing.
McDermott said: “It’s a shame and I know how much he was looking forward to going out there. But he’s got a long career ahead of him and these opportunities will come for him again. That’s the way he’s got to look at it.”
Fellow Leeds defender Tom Lees, meanwhile, has flown home from Israel after England Under-21s’ failed European Championship campaign.
The centre-back made one outing at the competition in a 1-0 defeat to Israel on Tuesday night, a result which left England without a single point after three group matches.
Leeds United are crossing their fingers that Sam Byram will be ready for the early stages of pre-season, with the youngster fighting to overcome a persistent hip injury.
Byram is in the hands of United’s physiotherapy staff after worries over his fitness led him to withdraw from England’s squad for the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.
The 19-year-old was due to fly to the continent with the rest of England’s players yesterday morning but he dropped out of Peter Taylor’s 21-man pool amid doubts about him recovering in time to feature heavily in the group stages of the tournament.
The Football Association refused to comment on the injury suffered by Byram but United manager Brian McDermott confirmed to the YEP that the right-back is struggling with the same problem that forced him to miss the last two games of the recent Championship season.
Byram sat out United’s meetings against Brighton and Watford with an injury sustained in training on April 26. It flared up less than an hour before United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton, forcing McDermott into a last-minute change to his line-up.
McDermott said: “It’s his hip again, the same problem he had towards the end of the season.
“We’re giving him a thorough check over to see how he is and what we’re looking at.” Asked if Byram was likely to be fit for the first day of pre-season training on June 27, McDermott said: “We’d obviously hope so.”
Byram coped with heavy physical demands during the 2012-13 season as his first campaign as a professional brought him 53 senior appearances for Leeds, more than any other player.
The injury that he sustained ahead of the Brighton game broke a run of successive league starts stretching back to the middle of September. But he appeared to have recovered from his hip complaint last month and joined up with England’s Under-20 squad with McDermott’s blessing.
McDermott said: “It’s a shame and I know how much he was looking forward to going out there. But he’s got a long career ahead of him and these opportunities will come for him again. That’s the way he’s got to look at it.”
Fellow Leeds defender Tom Lees, meanwhile, has flown home from Israel after England Under-21s’ failed European Championship campaign.
The centre-back made one outing at the competition in a 1-0 defeat to Israel on Tuesday night, a result which left England without a single point after three group matches.
