Nothing hurts a player more than sitting out of a game due to an injury. While every professional coach and player takes responsibility to prevent them, how you deal with them is vital to be able to play football consistently.

The key to handling injuries, impact and muscular, is largely assessing injuries. Dubai’s impressive medical infrastructure leads to quick scans and tests but the first few minutes are crucial to a player’s well-being.

As a coach, I have always told players to report every muscular tightness or pain and STOP PLAYING so that the injury can be assessed and attended to. There is nothing heroic in finishing a game and then spending the entire season in recovery – injuries are a part of the game and we teach players how to prevent them on a daily basis but it is also important to know that the best course of action, when injured, is to report, ice, rest and let an expert take charge.

Don’t worry about the game, your teammates will handle the opponents for you.