Gary Hooper quits England camp and returns for treatment

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Gary Hooper quits England camp and returns for treatment

Gary Hooper will report back to Lennoxtown immediately to begin treatment on the leg injury which has ruined his dream debut for England.

The striker was set to show Fabio Capello what he has to offer the full squad in the Under-21 double header against Denmark on Thursday and Iceland on Tuesday.

But, despite having played in the Scottish Cup tie at Inverness on Wednesday and the full 120 minutes of Sunday’s Co-operative Cup final at the weekend, the 23-year-old has had to admit he is not fit enough to pull on his country’s shirt for the first time. The knee injury picked up against Rangers in the Scottish Cup replay on March 2 is still troubling him. Hooper was forced to miss the following match, against Hamilton, but had recovered sufficiently to return to action in Inverness. He looked well off the pace in that game, as he did at Hampden at the weekend. Now the decision has been taken to withdraw from the England Under-21 matches in an attempt to ensure he is fully fit to face Inverness when the SPL resumes a week on Saturday. Neil Lennon will check with his medical staff to discover the full extent of Hooper’s problem. But the Celtic manager faces an anxious week as he waits for the other 13 players away on international duty to return to the club. This list includes captain Scott Brown, who has travelled to La Manga with Scotland despite having to limp out of the Co-op Cup final. The midfielder is not expected to play in Sunday’s glamour friendly against Brazil in London. But a host of his Parkhead team-mates will be in action this weekend and next midweek in games spread as far apart as Seoul and Los Angeles. Those in line to play for their countries are Mark Wilson, Joe Ledley, Thomas Rogne, Emilio Izaguirre, Ki Sung-Yueng, Kris Commons, Beram Kayal, Georgios Samaras, Paddy McCourt, Niall McGinn, James Forrest and Efrain Juarez. The Hoops boss hopes the break from action for the internationals will allow the likes of long-term absentees Daniel Majstorovic, Shaun Maloney, Cha Du-Ri, Freddie Ljungberg and Andreas Hinkel to edge nearer to full fitness as they step up their rehab.

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