Special Competition: Player injuries due to the tight fixtures - Kim Grant

Kim Grant, head coach for Accra Hearts of Oak has said, players are getting injured frequently, due to the tight fixtures of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Normalization Committee Special Competition.

The ongoing competition is played on Wednesdays and Sundays each week.

According to him, the long absence of football activities in the country, has affected the fitness of the players and playing on two day intervals, were having a heavy impact on the players.

Grant, who has been criticized by a section of the Phobia family for not having a team or a first eleven due to the changes of players in all the four matches played so far, noted that it was necessary for the team and the players due to the tight nature of the competition.

In a post-match press conference at the Accra Sports Stadium after his side beat Ebusua Dwarfs by 2:1, Grant said he was forced to make two quick substitutions in the first thirty minutes due to injuries.

“Injuries are part of the game but most of these are from the tight schedules of the ongoing league, where we play twice in a week.

“The fitness level of most players are down and coaches are doing their best to manage the team to complete the entire duration of the league.

“I have a young and inexperienced team, so it’s necessary and important to keep rotating them for the competition due to injuries, I would urge the fans to be patient and support the management as we build a team for the future” he added.

Both Hearts of Oak and Ebusua Dwarfs exhausted their substitution in the match day four of the ongoing special competition, with Hearts of Oak goalie, Richmond Ayi being forced to play close to twenty minutes of the second half in injury.