Swansea City’s Russell Martin issues Joe Allen injury update following Wales v England | OneFootball

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has quashed any fears over a potential fresh injury for midfielder Joe Allen after he was withdrawn in the second half of Wales’ 3-0 defeat by England at the FIFA World Cup.

Allen went into the tournament having not featured for the Swans since mid-September after picking up a hamstring injury against Hull City, and after continuing his recovery in training for Cymru, he missed their first group clash against the USA.

The experienced midfielder made his return to action following a two-month layoff when coming off the bench against Iran in a 2-0 loss last week, and then was thrust into the starting 11 by Rob Page when Wales took on England in a game they needed to win to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

It wasn’t to be though as three second half goals from the Three Lions secured their own passage to the last 16, and when the game was done and dusted with 10 minutes to go, Allen was seen on the deck and moments later was brought off with two medical staff beside him.

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Despite fears over a reoccurrence of the hamstring issue that forced him onto the sidelines for months, Martin has now confirmed that Allen is fine and available for the club’s return to action on December 10 against Norwich City.

“I watched him with immense pride last night and I am really pleased he came through it unscathed,” Martin told the BBC.

“He is fine. He is very tired – he probably played a bit longer than he would have liked to, we would have liked him to – but he has come through it and that’s the big positive for us.

“He will come back to us next week I think really ready to kick on.”

The Verdict

Allen’s homecoming to Swansea hasn’t gone as well as expected due to his injury.

But he now has minutes under his belt ready to get back into club action, and it will be coming up within the next week-and-a-half when Norwich make the trip to South Wales.

Russell Martin has been lacking a bit of depth in his engine room, and the control that a partnership of Allen and Matt Grimes provides has been somewhat lost.

Providing he now stays fit though, Allen will be a key addition to Martin’s squad for the rest of the season.