Daryl Dike may never recover from mental destruction by West Brom injuries – Chris Lepkowski
The latest injury blow to Daryl Dike will be “mentally and physically destroying” the West Brom striker, according to Chris Lepkowski.
The journalist reacted via Twitter on 10 February after the 23-year-old went off in tears just 10 minutes after being brought on in the 2-2 draw with Ipswich at Portman Road.
Carlos Corberan revealed afterwards that it was another Achilles injury, with the American himself communicating it had felt similar to the one that he had just returned from after nine months out, and Lepkowski now fears he will never be able to psychologically overcome his “rancid fortune”.
Lepkowski wrote: “To have 4 major injuries in such a short period of time must be mentally and physically destroying for Dike. He is merely a young guy trying to make success of a short career. He really doesn’t merit such rancid fortune.
“May sound draconian but think we are in the PTS province with him. How do you mentally recover from this. The physical aspect is one thing, but being concerned about every run, every jump, every challenge.”
Daryl Dike injury hell at West Brom continues vs Ipswich
It would be wrong to write Dike off at this stage, and he has already shown more resilience in two years at The Hawthorns than some players are required to over their entire careers.
But to repeatedly be struck down by serious set backs so soon after fighting his way through months of recovery simply can’t fail to be mentally devastating.
His reaction as the prospect of yet another lengthy rehab began to sink in on his way off the pitch said as much, with even the Ipswich fans recognising how bad his fortunes have been.
General concerns for his recovery are inevitable now given his recent history, but being able to overcome the fear of a repeat is likely to be an even greater challenge for him personally.
If this blow is as significant as the last one then it has surely reached the point already where his status as part of the West Brom squad fades in significance compared to his wellbeing as an individual and the club must continue to support him in any way possible.
Having returned to the Championship from MLS as a 21-year-old for over £7million with Valerien Ismael in charge [The Athletic], he has demonstrated huge commitment at a young age to come back three times already
So there is every chance he will do so again and he of course deserves the opportunity to do so, but he will likely need the pressure of the Baggies relying on his return to action to be removed if he is to be able to break an increasingly-miserable cycle.
In other West Brom news, Tony Brown was blown away by the “absolute brilliance” of one Albion ace at Portman Road.
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