Town boss Mick McCarthy says midfielder Andre Dozzell will learn the extent of his knee injury when he undergoes a scan later today. The 18-year-old collapsed to the ground in evident pain during first-half injury time during Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Birmingham and left the field on a stretcher.

“He’s going for his scan this evening,” McCarthy said. “I went to see him yesterday and took his England cap round. I was going to give it to him after the game on Saturday but that just didn’t feel right at the time when he was lying in the physio’s room.

“He was very, very down about it all. If it’s his cruciate, it could be 12 months out in terms of recovery.

“At his age it’s different, I think if it was a hard-nosed pro of 26 or 27, you’re fully developed. Let’s hope it’s not that, we don’t know, but that’s the fear.”

Dozzell’s father Jason will be there to provide guidance having been a player and suffered injuries himself during his career, but McCarthy says little anyone will be able to say will do much to cheer up the youngster.

“Nothing his dad says or I said yesterday will make him feel any better. I said, ‘You’re 18, if it is 12 months, and let’s hope it’s not, but if is you’ll be 19, you play until 35, so you’ve 16 more years to play.

“But it doesn’t feel like that when you're 18, does it? It’s only when you’re an old man like me and you’ve got a bit of perspective on life that you realise there’s a lot in front of you.

“But he’ll get the best treatment, he’ll get well looked after and whatever it is he’ll be back as quick as he possibly can.”

He added: “There’s a kick in the backside waiting for somebody in football, it appears every single day around every corner.

“You couldn’t envisage that happening having had such a great summer, winning the Euros with the England U19s and then coming back and you could instantly see it had given him something.

“The way he trained and I think the fact that Flynn Downes and Tristan Nydam were in and around the team had an effect as well and I loved it, he just rose to that challenge. So, really sad because he did play well on Saturday.”

Photo: TWTD

BlueBlood90 added 14:19 - Aug 7 Good luck Andre. Sometimes these things can appear worse than what they are. Hopefully this is one of those types of injuries and he'll be back soon.
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Swn98 added 14:25 - Aug 7 Good luck Andre and speedy recovery the Town need you, such a shame you've waited and been patient when your time has come this cruel blow.
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muccletonjoe added 14:28 - Aug 7 Hoping its not as bad as it is feared. Fingers crossed for you Andre.
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prebbs007 added 14:34 - Aug 7 everything crossed for you Andre.... speedy recovery young man
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blueberry27 added 14:56 - Aug 7 Fingers crossed for Andre - this was set up to be his big breakthrough year so it's potentially very sad At the game he picked up a knock a few minutes before he suffered the game ending injury - can't help but wonder if he did some damage in the first incident - we left him on and then he does this - - could have Brenna a serious error of judgment by our physio team

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Palestine added 15:21 - Aug 7 Can't be anything other than absolutely gutted about this. Poor lad. Wish him well.
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wkj added 15:28 - Aug 7 i genuinely hope it's not ACL, there is never a good time to do your ACL, but at his age, it's one of the worst ones to have in terms of potential inhibiting
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NoCanariesAllowed added 16:21 - Aug 7 Fate is a git sometimes. It was so encouraging to see Andre start on Saturday, was hoping he might get the chances to establish himself this season... then that happens. Particularly in light of what's happened to Bishop in recent times, I'd hate to see us have another youngster plagued by bad luck like this. Best wishes to Andre, get well soon.
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Ferguson added 17:21 - Aug 7 Get well soon son. We'll see you leading England out at a World Cup one of these days .
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jas0999 added 17:29 - Aug 7 Doesn't sound great does it? Real shame. Hoping for the best though and wish him well.
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Kentish_Tractor added 18:37 - Aug 7 Cruciate injuries suck. I've recently sprained mine (it's hyper-extended but not torn), and according to my physio even that is 6-8 weeks with no sports. I hope for Andre's sake it isn't as serious as feared - but it if is, I wish him a speedy recovery and hopes he comes back stronger for it.
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