Dinos Mavropanos has turned into something of a ‘Superman’ at West Ham United since the arrival of Axel Disasi: His stats have been off the charts and the big Greek has turned into a colossus, four or five times in his last outing at Aston Villa producing goal saving blocks, tackles and headers off the line.
So the possibility of him missing West Ham’s quarter final or must win Premier League game against Wolves is pretty worrying to contemplate: Factor in the uncertainty surrounding Jean Clair Todibo’s fitness and that worry has the capacity to become a full-blown crisis.
So news out of Greece this afternoon after Mavropanos’ head injury has been seized on with something approaching alarm. Sportal.gr writes:
“Mavropanos will be left out of the National Team’s next friendly match against Hungary, as it was deemed appropriate not to take the slightest risk after the blow he received to the head in the game against Paraguay.
The medical staff prioritized his full recovery, with the international stopper remaining out of the options for precautionary reasons.”
Which means the big centre back will be heading back to West Ham sooner than expected: No doubt the concussion protocol assessment will take place and West Ham will sweat on his availability for next weekend’s FA Cup quarter final. However, of course, there’s a bigger picture than ‘just’ football and it is vital to make sure the 28 year old makes a full recovery after two or three nasty head and facial blows in recent games.