Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Michail Antonio has shared details of the conversation that happened on the pitch after Ashley Westwood was injured over the weekend.
Nikola Vlasic was a part of the collision that caused Westwood’s injury, but his challenge had absolutely no malice behind it, and it was an unfortunate incident for everyone involved.
Understandably, Vlasic was horrified at the thought of causing such an injury to Westwood, but he was quickly reassured on the pitch that it wasn’t his fault.
What’s been said?
Antonio shared what happened after the injury.
“It was crazy, he was distressed and we were telling him it wasn’t his fault and even some Burnley players came over. Jay Rodriguez and James Tarkowski came over and they said ‘look, you didn’t touch him, it was the pitch, the pitch was dry, you don’t need to worry about it,’ it wasn’t just us consoling him, the Burnley players spoke to him as well, so that helped him calm down and carry on playing,” Antonio said.
Great to see
Everyone’s thoughts are with Ashley Westwood after this injury, but at the same time, Vlasic was clearly distressed on the pitch and needed this level of support.
He was always going to be consoled by his teammates, but the fact that the Burnley players gave him the same level of compassion is great to see.
In years gone by, opposition players may have blamed Vlasic or perhaps they would have even have tried to get some revenge, but the game has evolved, and this was a very sporting gesture from Rodriguez and Tarkowski.
We can only hope that Westwood is back playing soon and that Vlasic can put this incident behind him.
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