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Steve Bruce revealed more surrounding the injury that Keinan Davis is suffering with in his press conference on Friday – opening a can of worms regarding how bad the injury could actually be.
Words by Mark Jirobe (VillaMarkPGH)
Injuries happen in sports.
It’s unavoidable.
It can happen to players at the top of their game on the highest stage of their respective sports just as easily as it can happen in a game of kick-around on a Sunday morning with your mates.
Aston Villa signed the young striker from Biggleswade Town after scouts found Davis scoring for fun in a very menacing fashion. Keinan Davis is the type of striker that will do well to please supporters by setting up other players for goals rather than scoring himself.
No one could have imagined that Davis would be involved in 30 games for the first-team last season. One could only imagine what being thrust into the Aston Villa first team after extensive injuries in the squad would feel like. It’s almost the stuff that dreams are made out of. Especially since mere months before joining Villa, Keinan Davis was apprenticing at his cousin’s barber shop and playing for Biggleswade in mid-week games.
At his latest press conference before the Ipswich Town clash, Villa manager Steve Bruce was asked about any injury woes by the main Aston Villa club interviewer. Bruce responded: “Keinan’s becoming a worry to us all. It’s a shame on the kid, but he’s been blighted since last March with it. Keinan takes two steps forward and one step back recently and that’s upsetting for us all.”
This was asked at the end of the press conference that can be found on the Aston Villa FC YouTube page. Then something rather peculiar is said by Steve Bruce while addressing someone in the media. The supposed journalist appears to ask Bruce if it is a new injury with Keinan or “one niggling injury”, to which Steve Bruce says:
“No, no… it’s one of them. It’s the same injury to… pubis bone or whatever it’s called.” Bruce then looks to his right, which appears to be towards a Aston Villa Public Relations person that was shown at the beginning of the video. Bruce goes on to say, “A horrible one, inflammation of the pubis bone.”
Then miraculously, the live streamed video abruptly stops.
It may very well be nothing of mention that the posted press conference was cut short (as it often is to allow journalists outside of Villa to ask questions and get their ‘scoops’).
But, there is a massive difference between a groin injury and inflammation of the pubis bone. While a groin injury can easily be misdiagnosed in a plethora of ways, inflammation of the pubis bone can point towards a debilitating injury called Osteitis pubis.
Ostetis pubis is defined as a “overuse syndrome characterised by pelvic pain and local tenderness over the pubic symphysis commonly encountered in athletes often involved in kicking, twisting and cutting activities in sports such as football and rugby and to a lesser degree distance running.” [You can read more about Ostetis pubis here.]
The treatment for Osteitis pubis can be a wide variety of stages from more conservative treatment such as rest and limited activity. More aggressive treatment would point towards Corticosteroid injections and surgical operations.
With any injury, catching and identifying it early could mean the difference between an athlete being out for a few weeks or a few months. Osteitis pubis is no different in that regard.
In the event that Keinan Davis’ injury is a serious as Steve Bruce made it out to be, there could be a very long and tough road back to the pitch for the 20 year old. No one wants to see such a young and talented player be hampered by such an injury especially coming off a year where Davis found himself a way to win over Villa supporters with his playing style.
It is now a real worry when we will all see Keinan Davis back in Claret & Blue and if this injury will hamper him for the rest of his career.
