Brentford’s 2015/16 Sky Bet Championship season is at an end, but for some of the squad and staff, hard work will continue through the summer. Alan Judge and Josh McEachran are working on rehabilitation from injuries while other members of the squad have individual plans to ensure they are ready for the start of the new season. Neil Greig, Brentford FC Head of Medical, has prepared an update for supporters on the players that missed the end of the campaign.
Neil said: “Alan Judge is now six weeks post-surgery following his lower-leg fracture injury versus Ipswich Town. Alan is progressing well and following a positive appointment with the consultant is now able to spend short periods of time off of his crutches. He has been making great use of the anti-gravity treadmill that we have at Jersey Road, which is a fantastic piece of equipment when managing injuries such as Alan's and Josh McEachran's. Likewise, both Alan and Josh undertake daily sessions of oxygen therapy in the hyperbaric chamber that we installed last season, which we hope will accelerate and improve the bone healing.
“The aim now, whilst allowing the fractures sufficient time to heal, is to begin developing Alan's general strength and athleticism, ahead of him returning to running outside. Alan's progress is exactly where we would have hoped it to be at this stage and we're due to return to the consultant again at the 12 week point for further x-rays and discussion regarding his next steps. As ever with such cases, Alan's return will be managed according to him achieving the required physical markers, rather than arbitrary timescales, which will lead to a more complete return to play.
“Josh McEachran is now eight weeks post-surgery following his foot fracture sustained in training. Josh's initial progress has been good and he has also received positive reports from the consultant in charge of his case. He is now out of the protective boot that he wore for the initial six weeks and is progressing towards running on the anti-gravity treadmill at limited body weight.
“Josh's injury, whilst unfortunate, has given him the opportunity develop his overall physicality and athleticism and he is working well with our strength and conditioning staff in order to maximise this area. We anticipate that Josh will receive positive news when he visits the consultant again in four weeks and that will enable us to make a more detailed plan for his return to team training.
“Lewis Macleod returned to team training during the last two weeks of the season following a frustrating injury to his right knee which he also sustained during training. The nature of the injury was far from simple, both in terms of diagnosis and then appropriate treatment, which led to greater time being missed by Lewis than any of us could have anticipated. Positively, however, Lewis returned to training without issue and, although we chose not to include him in the match day squad, he completed all elements of the squad training that was expected.
“Following a short break at the end of the season, Lewis now has a number of conditioning blocks scheduled with us through the summer periods, the first of which he completed last week, along with the individualised summer conditioning programme that is provided for each player and monitored by our conditioning staff. We anticipate that Lewis will return to complete a full pre-season programme along with the rest of the squad and will have the chance to demonstrate his outstanding talent.
“Andreas Bjelland also completed the last two weeks of full training with the squad at the end of the season following the significant knee injury that he sustained back in August. Prior to this he had been completing parts of the squad sessions along with his own individual reconditioning programme for a sustained period of time. Andreas' return to team training was particularly pleasing, given the significance of the injury sustained and also the slow progress we made in the initial eight weeks following surgery.
“Andreas has now returned to Denmark for the summer, where he will undertake a week of training with the Danish national squad, followed by an on-going period of reconditioning under the expert supervision of Thomas Jørgensen, of Protreatment, who has worked closely with us during Andreas' recovery. We anticipate that Andreas will complete a full preseason and then have the opportunity to show all of the qualities that a player of his considerable experience possesses.
“As well as Alan and Josh, who will work consistently over the summer period, players such as Andreas, Lewis and Scott Hogan – along with Maxime Colin and Philipp Hofmann, who were experiencing some difficulties towards the end of the season – are reviewed regularly during the close season period by the medical staff at Jersey Road. They will then return to training ahead of their team mates in order to ensure that they hit the ground running on day one of pre-season.”