Soccer:Less than 24 hours after lamenting his lack of first-team football at Manchester City, Shay Given will be buoyed, privately at least, by the news that Joe Hart has been forced to pull out of the England squad.
Roberto Mancini’s number one was due to start against France this evening but went back to his club this morning after failing to recover from a back spasm that first struck yesterday.
It was soon obvious he had a problem when he went down in agony during a routine goalkeeping session. Hart was in pain when he left the field and was still struggling to stand up properly when England made their way out of the stadium an hour later.
Fabio Capello hoped the injury would ease during the afternoon but any improvement has not been sufficient for him to be considered for the match and he was sent back to the north-west.
Given, who plays for the Republic of Ireland against Norway tonight, yesterday described his situation as “difficult”.
“You try and work hard in training but obviously it’s difficult to try and re-enact a match situation,” he said. “I wish I was playing more because I would feel sharper but this is the situation I’m in and I can’t really change that.
“I played with Man City in Europe a couple of weeks ago and now I have this game tomorrow so I’m getting the odd game. But it’s not ideal; you want to play every week. It’s frustrating. I think I’ve already said how I’m coping – not very well to be honest. But I can’t change the situation at the minute. I’ve just got to keep my head down and see what happens over the next couple of months.”
However, unless Hart makes a rapid recovery, it could now be days, rather than months, before he tastes first team football with his club again.
City face a trip to Fulham’s Craven Cottage on Sunday.