This morning, Archie Gray went off in tears following a dreadful challenge from 27-year-old John McGinn on the 16-year-old in a friendly match against Aston Villa, leaving many fans fearful for the talented teenager and furious at the challenge from the Scottish international.
After the match, Jesse Marsch said:
“He was in some pain initially. When they assessed it after the match they’re hopeful nothing is broken, hopefully it’s just an ankle sprain and we’ll see the severity of it in the next couple of days.”
While the severity of the injury is far from clear, the early signs are that Gray has managed to avoid a serious injury following the challenge which was over the ball, right into the youngster’s ankle, shortly after Gray himself had made a fantastic challenge in which his feet remained firmly along the ground – it seems that this one may have angered Villa’s players, as multiple players in claret put poor challenges in around this time in particular, making McGinn’s foul even harder to swallow.
Incredibly, Villa manager Steven Gerrard, when asked about some of the challenges, responded with this:
“We wish the young kid very well. John’s got the ball but unfortunately he’s been unlucky in the follow through. There was one just before by the same boy on Buendia and my heart was in my own mouth.”
Hopefully, positive news will come out of the Leeds United camp soon, as Archie Gray has a fantastic opportunity to have a breakthrough season judging by his quality performances in the pre-season so far.