Since going off injured for Manchester United away at Aston Villa last month, Harry Maguire has been in a race against time to be fit for England’s Euro 2020 campaign.
According to the Blackpool Telegraph, Maguire has declared himself fit for tomorrow night’s game against Scotland.
He has admitted it will come at a cost, and expects his ankle injury to be niggling away at him for weeks and months to come.
Maguire feels the pain is bearable and wants to get back to playing matches to build the confidence in his fitness again.
“I’ve done a few sessions now and feel like my fitness is there, so I’m available for the game,” said Maguire.
“It’s about building the confidence every day, and the only way you can do that is by training and playing games. You can do as many rehab sessions as you like.
“But when you’re not playing competitive football you can’t build that confidence, especially when it’s an ankle or knee injury. It’s just about more training sessions and games whenever they come.
“I’m sure it will niggle me for a few weeks and months. From speaking to players and physios, I’m sure it will be niggling. But as long as it’s stable and the pain is bearable then I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Not ideal for United
Ideally for United, the captain would have the summer off to fully recover from his injury and return to pre-season at full fitness.
But Maguire will be playing through the pain of his injury, condensing his summer down and delaying his full recovery.
Of course you can understand why Maguire wants to push through regardless – opportunities to play for your country at a major tournament don’t come around all that often in your career.
And if Maguire comes back to Old Trafford as a European Championship winner, he’d be brimming with confidence next season.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would likely prefer Maguire to be like Dean Henderson and Donny van de Beek, with the summer off to focus on their fitness, ready to come back on day one of pre-season.
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