Tony Mowbray tells Kevin Thomson to play through the pain
Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray has told Kevin Thomson he will have to play through the pain barrier if he wants to stay in the team.
The midfielder suffered a broken leg back in August and has done remarkably well to get back into first team plans so quickly. However, Thomson has been taken off early in the club's last three games due
to excessive pain.
"It's a blow to lose Kevin at any stage of the game because he's an important player for us.
But the way for him to deal with it is to keep playing through it," Mowbray said on the Sky Sports website.
The news hints at the fact that Thomson may have returned to first team action with Middlesbrough earlier than he should have done. Players will often endure pain and try
to hide it through training because they want to play so badly.
However, in this case it has back fired because the manager clearly wants the player to take the negatives of playing prematurely or go back to the treatment room and return
when it's not going to be a problem to the team.
"The tissue is soft in that area and it was painful for him.
We don't have any natural width," Mowbray added.
Fortunately the club is welcoming back Marvin Emnes after a productive loan spell at Swansea City. Emnes can play out wide, which will cover for Thomson's absence. However,
this will be frustrating to Emnes who played as a striker for Swansea and scored a few goals during his loan move.
"We'll see what he [Emnes] can offer us and if we can utilise him in the squad
on Saturday," said Mowbray.
Betting advice
Emnes will be full of confidence at the moment so back him to score in any game he plays in for the club. Thomson is a very determined player as his swift recovery from the leg
break in August proves. Back Thomson to be successful when it's clear he can play coping with or free of pain.
Tags: