Will Murray be fit to play at Wimbledon?
CHARLES Vernam returned to the matchday squad after another injury absence for Grimsby Town in what has been a frustrating first season back with the Mariners. The 27-year-old made his initial return at the turn of the year from the hamstring tear that kept him out for four months, but he has been out of action again since the Doncaster Rovers defeat in midFebruary.
Vernam has spoken previously about how difficult it was to bounce back from this latest setback just a few months after returning to Grimsby on a three-year deal and his desire to “repay the faith” the club had shown in him to make the move happen.
He said back in January: “It was probably one of the hardest moments in my career so far was getting that injury.
“I found it really tough to deal with at the start, both physically and mentally. I was in a lot of discomfort.
“I put in a lot of work with Ben Mortlock and Dave Moore to get ready and I’ve come back in a position where I’ve felt I’ve not needed too much time to get back in with the group and perform well in training.
“It’s a positive to be back out there, and I’m really happy to be back.
“Hopefully, I can perform to a level now where I can help the team turn things around. I wanted to come here and prove myself again, show why the club had brought me back to repay the faith.”
Hopefully, this minor hitch that Vernam has had in recent weeks is the last problem he will face at least for the rest of this campaign as he looks to rediscover the kind of form that initially warmed Town supporters to him during his first spell.
Grimsby boss David Artell revealed that they were close to bringing the winger on against Wrexham on Saturday if the second half had played out a certain way, but it did not materialise in a way that justified the “risk” in subbing Vernam in.
He explained: “We said that after we scored our goal [against
Wrexham] that if we managed to get another one, we’d bring him on at wing-back or as a number ten and go for it to try and push for an equaliser, but the game didn’t play out that way in the end.
“We didn’t take that gamble because that is what it would’ve been in that situation, but we’d have been prepared to do it if there was a chance of getting a point.
“What we didn’t want to do was put him on to potentially get injured again when he didn’t need to be out there. “We wouldn’t have put him on the bench if we didn’t think he could’ve played but the risk to reward in that situation wasn’t quite in favour of putting him on the pitch, so we decided to wait a bit longer to get him back out there.”
ANDY Murray is set for an “extended spell” on the sidelines after he suffered a serious ankle injury during his defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open.
Murray lost a marathon encounter to the Czech player 5-7 7-5 7-6 (5), but has seemingly left America with a more significant issue.
During the 10th game of the final set, Murray collapsed to the floor after he hurt his ankle when racing towards the net, having sealed the point which won the game.
A medical time-out was initially called for the three-time major winner, but he picked himself up and continued, only to lose the decider on a tie-breaker.
The 36-year-old, who is set to retire later this year, has now confirmed the severity of his injury with both his Anterior Talo-Fubular ligament (ATFL) and Calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) ruptured.
“Yesterday towards the end of my match in Miami I suffered a full rupture of my ATFL and near full thickness rupture of my CFL,” Murray said on Instagram. “I will see an ankle specialist when I return home to determine next steps.
“Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I’ll be out for an extended period. But I’ll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
Murray had revealed in February – during the Dubai Open – his intention to retire this year, telling reporters: “I don’t plan on playing much past this summer.”
It followed a string of first-round exits in Australia and France, but Murray has improved his form over the past month.
The double-Wimbledon champion has beaten Denis Shapovalov and David Goffin at recent tournaments before he claimed back-to-back wins in Miami for the first time since August.
Murray defeated Matteo Berrettini in round one and claimed a semblance of revenge over Australian Open conqueror Tomas Martin Etcheverry, but lost after three hours and 27 minutes to Machac on Sunday.
More worrying for the Scot will be the prospect of a lengthy lay-off, especially with Wimbledon only three months away as Murray’s swansong is threatened by this potentially-serious ankle injury.