MY FEARS FOR CARL
Frear: Well pal faces decision on his future
ELLIOTT FREAR admits Motherwell team-mate Carl McHugh may be forced to put family before football after being knocked out for the fourth time this season.
The 26-year-old was stretchered off against Celtic last weekend before being released from hospital later that day. McHugh’s catalogue of concussions include a six-month lay-off with a serious head injury a few months after arriving at Fir Park.
And Frear said: “I feel for Carl. It looked a really bad one. I think he was a little bit worried about how easily he got knocked out, so he’s going to make a decision, or him and his family are probably going to make a decision.
“There’s a lot more to life than football so we’ll just see how he goes.
“I think it really scared him. All the boys were really worried for him but in the last few days he’s looked really well and passed all the concussion tests so I hope he’s all right.”
Frear has suffered his own head injury worries. He was knocked out in a freak training-ground incident where he was hit with the ball. And he reckons McHugh’s biggest obstacle is the psychological hurdle of getting back in where it hurts.
He said: “Carl’s gone through a lot more than I have so I can’t really say a lot to him to be honest.
“But it’s not a nice thing and it’s one where you have to weigh up what you want really, especially with the position he plays.
“I don’t really head the ball a lot but where he plays, in midfield or at the back, he’s heading the ball all the time and getting that contact all the time.
“You’ve got to build yourself back up and particularly where he plays, he is taking those hits all the time.
“Playing against the likes of big Uche Ikpeazu you have to psyche yourself up. Mentally it’s a massive thing. Hopefully he can get back to where he was but it can take a long time.
“The self-doubt is probably the biggest thing. It’s hard because when you’re playing football the ball is everywhere all the time and at the back of your mind you’re thinking, ‘God, don’t let this ball hit me because it might happen again’.
“It does go away but it just takes a long time.”
Motherwell assistant boss Keith Lasley says the SPFL’s decision to reschedule the abandoned game with Killie for this afternoon has left him in the doghouse with his kids.
He said: “I had some difficult conversations with my children over the last few days as it was supposed to be a trampoline park for me but now it’s going to be Rugby Park.
“That’ll hopefully be a step up for the kids and I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.
“Let’s hope they’re bouncing at the end of it. But we all knew the situation and we’ll get on with it.”
Well’s five-game winning run ended with the loss to Celtic and Lasley said: “We know how quickly things can change the other way in football. We’re certainly not thinking everything is great and it’s all rosy.
“We want to improve. It’s going well and we still feel there are areas we can improve on.
“We’re coming up against the top six and we need to prove we can compete with these teams.
“To do that we need to do even better than we have been.”