St. Pauli fear potential season-ending injury for USMNT international James Sands | OneFootball

Saturday’s 1-0 Bundesliga loss to Freiburg ended in an extremely bitter fashion for promoted side St. Pauli. A late own-goal from former Freiburg man Philipp Treu in the 88th minute cost FCSP a chance at earning points at home. Head coach Alexander Blessin’s fourth yellow card of the campaign earned the German a suspension in the next league fixture.

To top things new January acquisition James Sands had to exit proceedings with what looked like a serious injury in the deep into stoppage time. After the match, Blessin confirmed to Sky Germany that the New York City FC loanee might be sidelined for a long time. The 13-times capped USMNT international might never feature for his German side again after blowing out his ankle.

“It looks really, really bad,” Blessin said. “James landed with his full weight on his ankle. It’s really upsetting for me and it’s getting to me.

“He got his ankle stuck in the turf,” Blessin then elaborated at the post-match press conference. “He is currently in the hospital. We shall see.“

In their first season back in the top flight, St. Pauli have simply had no luck shaking the injury bug. Attackers Elias Saad and Scott Banks have suffered setbacks. Morgan Guilavogui was also recently ruled out long-term. In midfield, Robert Wagner and Connor Metcalfe have had their problems.

The list of players missing to injury in the defensive corps is essentially too numerous to list. Blessin’s team even had to add a fifth goalkeeper to the roster (Eric Oelschlägel) due to issues experienced to the three backups to Nikola Vasilj, Ben Voll, Sascha Burchert and Sören Ahlers.

Sands started the last four league fixtures for St. Pauli, earning largely respectable marks in the German press. Sitting 14th on 21 points after 22 games, the new Bundesliga newcomers remain very much in the relegation race. The general “safety standard” of 35 points remains attainable.

GGFN | Peter Weis