Red Devil
25-05-2006, 11:10 PM
Foot surgeon John Hollingdale believes there is no chance of Wayne Rooney playing in the group stages of the World Cup finals. The ongoing soap opera involving the Manchester United striker's metatarsal injury has seen many twists and turns with a scan on Thursday set to finally reveal whether the bone has healed.
With United physio Mike Stone leaving the club in mysterious circumstances and tabloid claims ranging from the England star being out for three months to forcing his way back into contention for the opening game against Paraguay, the guessing game shows no sign of easing up.
Hollingdale feels there is little prospect of the 20-year-old making a miraculous comeback, which appears to be a view shared by Sir Alex Ferguson.
"Well, the scan will give us a lot of information regarding how much healing has taken place around the fracture," Hollingdale, who works at Central Middlesex Hospital, told Sky Sports News.
"The CT scan will give us more detail than a plain X-ray. If it looks good, I expect the medical advisers will tell the physios they can start putting more force through the foot, perhaps even start a bit of gentle jogging maybe.
"I certainly don't think he'll be able to do any ball-work for three weeks and no contact for another three or four weeks. I don't think there's any chance of him starting the World Cup.
"I wouldn't bet on it. He might surprise us all but I think it's unlikely."
Hollingdale agreed that there has been a lot of uninformed speculation about Rooney's recovery but feels the change in physio should not affect his comeback date. "I think, if England get into the second stages, there's a reasonable chance Rooney will be able to take part in those games," he added.
"I wouldn't bet on him starting the World Cup. There's a lot of difference between dancing at David Beckham's party and playing against Brazil in a football match.
"To make a reasonable assessment, you've got to see the patient, look at the X-ray, look at the scans and then you can give a full and informed opinion about how well he's doing. If he's actually able to walk unaided, cycle and dance then it's a good sign that's in his favour. It means he can put pressure on the foot without discomfort. "It's always nice to have continuity of care in any patient but a metatarsal fracture is a fairly straightforward problem to deal with. I think the people taking over his care will be able to cope with it very well. I don't think it's going to affect his outcome.
"The fact he's young is a good thing but bones tend to heal at the same rate, no matter what age you are - providing you haven't got a metabolic disorder. I hope he's keeping himself fit because, once he gets back to training, he needs to get his aerobic fitness back to the same level. "He'll be unable to do ball-work at the moment and have no contact in training for two or three weeks. I'd have thought there's no reason why he can't keep his physical fitness up to the optimum level whilst his foot is healing though."
With United physio Mike Stone leaving the club in mysterious circumstances and tabloid claims ranging from the England star being out for three months to forcing his way back into contention for the opening game against Paraguay, the guessing game shows no sign of easing up.
Hollingdale feels there is little prospect of the 20-year-old making a miraculous comeback, which appears to be a view shared by Sir Alex Ferguson.
"Well, the scan will give us a lot of information regarding how much healing has taken place around the fracture," Hollingdale, who works at Central Middlesex Hospital, told Sky Sports News.
"The CT scan will give us more detail than a plain X-ray. If it looks good, I expect the medical advisers will tell the physios they can start putting more force through the foot, perhaps even start a bit of gentle jogging maybe.
"I certainly don't think he'll be able to do any ball-work for three weeks and no contact for another three or four weeks. I don't think there's any chance of him starting the World Cup.
"I wouldn't bet on it. He might surprise us all but I think it's unlikely."
Hollingdale agreed that there has been a lot of uninformed speculation about Rooney's recovery but feels the change in physio should not affect his comeback date. "I think, if England get into the second stages, there's a reasonable chance Rooney will be able to take part in those games," he added.
"I wouldn't bet on him starting the World Cup. There's a lot of difference between dancing at David Beckham's party and playing against Brazil in a football match.
"To make a reasonable assessment, you've got to see the patient, look at the X-ray, look at the scans and then you can give a full and informed opinion about how well he's doing. If he's actually able to walk unaided, cycle and dance then it's a good sign that's in his favour. It means he can put pressure on the foot without discomfort. "It's always nice to have continuity of care in any patient but a metatarsal fracture is a fairly straightforward problem to deal with. I think the people taking over his care will be able to cope with it very well. I don't think it's going to affect his outcome.
"The fact he's young is a good thing but bones tend to heal at the same rate, no matter what age you are - providing you haven't got a metabolic disorder. I hope he's keeping himself fit because, once he gets back to training, he needs to get his aerobic fitness back to the same level. "He'll be unable to do ball-work at the moment and have no contact in training for two or three weeks. I'd have thought there's no reason why he can't keep his physical fitness up to the optimum level whilst his foot is healing though."