Following Sunday’s game at West Ham, Eddie Howe revealed that Anthony Gordon had been dealing with a slight hip injury.
Despite that, he still started in last night’s 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, but he never looked right all night and was forced off just before halftime with what looked like a worsening of said injury.
Howe offered a post-match update on his condition, also discussing Will Osula’s withdrawal, Lewis Hall’s comeback from a hamstring issue and Bruno Guimaraes’ recovery from illness.
On Gordon, Howe said: “I’ve not spoke to him and I haven’t really had a full rundown from the medical team. It seems like a reoccurrence of his hip injury that has been plaguing him in recent weeks. We’ll assess that and see what damage is there.”
Before the game even kicked off, it was revealed that Will Osula had to drop out of the match day squad due to his ongoing ankle injury concerns.
Discussing his absence, Howe added: “We’ve been in discussions with him at length in the last few days about his ankle, as to whether he’s fit enough to perform at the level we need, and what he’s comfortable with. After a discussion, we felt it was better to withdraw him and get his ankle 100% right.”
But in more positive news, we finally saw the return of Lewis Hall late in the second half, and the left back made an excellent impression with his brief cameo.
Reading between the lines, Howe hinted that Brentford may be too soon for him to come straight back into the starting 11, but it’s a welcome sight to see the 21-year-old available once again and look so sharp on his return.
“It was my plan to try and give him minutes. You can never guarantee but it was in my mind to use him,” Howe said on Hall’s return.
“I didn’t intend to use him at West Ham because he’s only had one training session and he’s worked so hard to get back. We didn’t want to lose him having done all the hard work.
“It was the right time to introduce him. I thought he played very well, I was really pleased. We still have to have a level of caution to how much he can play, but positive steps for him, trying to find his rhythm again.”
Last but not least, Howe responded to Bruno’s post-match claim that it was like playing with “10kg on my back” after battling illness, admitting “he wasn’t at 100%” yet still gave his all in an effort that sums up his desire to play and win:
“He wasn’t saying that to me this morning, he said he was feeling a million dollars! But in all seriousness his character is undoubted and his will to play is so strong.
“I did have a detailed talk with him and he assured me he was fit to produce a performance that the team needed while probably acknowledging he wasn’t at 100% fitness.
“That’s why we withdrew him when we did, to try and protect him. But I think we lost a little bit when he came off the pitch speaking honestly. That’s why he’s so important to us.”
So, it’s a wait and see on Gordon, a sign Osula’s ankle is still not right, great to see Bruno recover quickly and brilliant to have Hall back, even if he won’t be rushed back into the starting XI after foot surgery and a hamstring injury has plagued his 2025 so far.
