Every international break brings worry for club managers and the current one even more so. With the football season compacted and after having insufficient rest and no real preseason, players are increasingly prone to picking up injuries.
That’s already been seen in recent days, with players withdrawing from national squads and some picking up injuries at the start of the current break.
Manchester United’s Victor Lindelof is in the current Sweden squad, and in the past few weeks there’s been multiple reports in the country that the defender is tired. He played the full match against Everton at the weekend, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side won 3-1.
However, Lindelof has now revealed he’s been carrying an injury, although he insists he’s ready to play for Sweden if required.
Quoted by Fotbollskanalen, the Manchester United player explained: “The back feels okay. I’ve been having problems for a few weeks. I’ve struggled through the matches there’s been. It’s nice that I got a few days off now where there has only been treatment and I really tried to rest.
“It felt good in training today. Hopefully there should be no problems. If they want me to play, I will try to play and see how it feels. Then after that we will see how the back will be.”
That will surely be a worry for Solskjaer, who would prefer Lindelof to be rested if there’s even the slightest chance he could make the back injury worse.
Sweden face Croatia on Saturday and then France on Tuesday, with both matches part of the UEFA Nations League.
