Moyes quashes injury woes

David Moyes insists there is nothing unusual with the number of injuries hitting players across the Premier League.

There are a number of injury doubts at top clubs heading into the World Cup in Qatar, with the schedule being compressed due to the tournament being staged in November and December.

The Irons only have three more competitive games to go before the tournament, against Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers, and Leicester City.

England have a number of injury concerns, with Manchester City duo Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips both severe doubts, while Ben Chilwell limped out of Chelsea’s Champions League game in midweek. Chilwell’s team-mate, Reece James, is also a real doubt.

Moyes, though, doesn’t believe there are any more injuries befalling the league than usual, and has rubbished the idea that fixture congestion has anything to do with it.

Speaking before Sunday’s London derby clash with Crystal Palace, he said, per Football 365: “It’s the time of the season where injuries happen.

“We go into the Christmas period where you’re asking the players to play a ridiculous amount of games over a short period of time, but this is our culture and that’s what we do.

“But to highlight it more now, there’s probably the same number of injuries as there was last season when there was no World Cup, so if people are surprised then they shouldn’t be – because with football comes injuries.

“And let’s be fair with the amount of games the players, the clubs and the coaches have had to put up with, a huge scheduling – everybody’s scheduling a big, big amount of games.

“So I don’t think it should be too surprising knowing that there’s injuries (occurring).”