It was clear something was wrong when Fabian Delph pulled up lame just 20 seconds into England’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Switzerland on Tuesday.
Well, there was. Reports claim Delph could miss three weeks to a month thanks to a hamstring injury, one that will cause him to miss as many as seven Manchester City matches plus the final two qualification matches for England.
Yet to start a game for Manchester City due to a previous hamstring problem in preseason, Delph is now almost certain to miss Premier League trips to Crystal Palace and Sunderland, a date with West Ham at the Etihad, plus a crucial Champions League group stage game at home against Juventus.
In addition to those, he could also find himself on the outside looking in as the calendar sweeps into October, with league fixtures at Spurs and against Newcastle bookending a Champions League match at Borussia Monchengladbach. There his club will take a break for the international interval, but should he still be nursing his hamstring, he would miss the final Euro 2016 qualifiers for England against Estonia and Lithuania.
“He pulled his hamstring,” England manager Roy Hodgson said after the match on Tuesday. “He trained every session with us and felt good, and he played in San Marino. It was just a burst, that acceleration [that caused it]. He felt it was a definite pull. A scan will have to show us how serious it is.”
Manchester City could get Fernando back from a groin injury soon, and he could provide the Citizens with a replacement for Delph. Meanwhile, for the England international, karma for his snake Instagram post with Raheem Sterling? Maybe, maybe not...
