Chelsea star Jesse Derry breaks silence after being rushed to hospital | Football | Sport
Chelsea starlet Jesse Derry has expressed his gratitude to all those involved in his care after sustaining a head injury during his Premier League debut on Monday. The 18-year-old was an unexpected selection in Calum McFarlane’s starting eleven for the Blues’ top-flight clash with Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
With Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho both ruled out after picking up knocks in training, McFarlane, formerly the Under-21s head coach, placed his trust in academy prospect Derry. Derry has been in impressive form for Chelsea’s academy this season, with his displays earning him a couple of cameo appearances for the first team in the FA Cup.
The entire Stamford Bridge crowd rose to applaud as Derry was carried off, before he was subsequently transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital, just over three miles from Chelsea’s ground. Derry has since taken to social media to express his thanks to those who assisted him.
Posting on Instagram, Derry wrote: “A dream come true to start at Stamford Bridge for my Premier League debut. I’d like to thank all the Chelsea medical staff, everyone at St. Mary’s Hospital, my teammates and all the fans for their great support.
“I can’t wait to be back playing in front of everyone very soon.”
Interim head coach McFarlane was asked about Derry post-match, and said: “We’re hearing positive signs from Jesse and Rob (Sanchez, who was also taken off after a head collision with Morgan Gibbs-White) and I hope the Nottingham Forest players are okay as well. But yeah, I’m pleased for Jesse’s performance.
“I thought he performed well while he was on the pitch, but there’s probably more important things to think about right now.”
With two significant collisions resulting in four players, two from each side, being substituted during Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Forest, Abbott was the sole ‘concussion sub’ during the match in west London. While neither Derry nor Sanchez were withdrawn as a ‘concussion sub’, the Blues will nonetheless follow standard protocols with both players.
This has raised questions over Sanchez and whether he will feature in Saturday afternoon’s trip to Anfield to face Liverpool. The FA’s ‘graduated return to play’ (GRTP) protocol states ‘this staged programme commences at midnight on the day of injury and stage 1 (initial rest period) is 14 days in all players unless they are in an enhanced care setting.
In all cases, progression to stage 2 of the GRTP can only occur if the player has no symptoms’. There are six stages involved in the FA’s GRTP. Stage one ‘is an initial rest period during which symptoms should resolve. This stage must be extended if symptoms persist’. Stages two, three, four and five are all ‘training based activity’, with stage six: ‘return to full training and match play’.
