Andy King - Injured?

[reynard]

That would explain a lot of things. Achilles tendon injuries tend to come on gradually. My oldest son snapped his a month ago playing squash and he'd felt discomfort for a while.

King has played virtually non-stop for several seasons, plus his internationals and training sessions. If the tendon was struggling that would explain the one-paced running and inability to step up a gear or make telling breks into danger areas, especially as these problems have been apparent for a while now.

Even on here people have asked if there's something wrong, they even wondered if he was ill.

Well a prospective Achilles injury would explain it.

My son's anticipating six months before he's fully recovered and one of the remaining concerns is whether the other tendon becomes endangered once the damaged one is mended. Apparently the joy of having a fully sprung tendon again can make you put too much pressure on the one that was not damaged, remembering that they'll both have had the same miles on the clock.

Achilles injuries can come on gradually but that is not always the case. I injured mine in mid November but had been running for two years before and had no problems at all. Then one day I simply couldn't put my foot down without a lot of pain.

Now I'm back running again though not at full pace. Considering King is half my age and has a full medical team to back him up there is no reason he can't make a reasonably quick recovery. It all depends on whether there is a full tear/rupture of whether he really has a severe case of tendonopathy. If it is the former he's looking at a lot longer than twelve weeks out. If the latter it can be eased by a lot of extra stretching but achilles injuries are notoriously difficult to get right due to the poor blood flow to that part of the body. The fact he is on crutches (if true) would indicate the club's medical team are more concerned about a possible tear rather than the milder tendonopathy. He could be out for a lot longer than 12 weeks.