Burnley players left 'distraught' after Ashley Westwood injury in West Ham draw
- Planet Sport writer
- 17 April 2022
Ashley Westwood suffered a serious ankle injury in Burnley's West Ham clash, leaving the midfielder requiring nine minutes of treatment before being taken to hospital.
In what was an impressive draw for Burnley, the 1-1 result was overclouded on Sunday afternoon by a serious injury suffered by Clarets midfielder Ashley Westwood.
The 32-year-old was involved in a tackle with Hammers winger Nikola Vlasic, and suffered a suspected dislocated and fractured ankle.
He was treated for nearly 10 minutes on the pitch by medics while on oxygen, before he was stretchered into an ambulance and taken to hospital.
Following the final whistle, interim Burnley boss Mike Jackson confirmed that Westwood was in hospital, but was unable to give any updates on the injury.
Nikola Vlasic had to be consoled by team-mates after witnessing Ashley Westwood's injury.
— GOAL News (@GoalNews) April 17, 2022
Get well soon, Ashley 🙏 pic.twitter.com/D1xFJoS3Kn
"He's gone to hospital and we're waiting for an update. We're hoping he's OK, our thoughts are with him.
"You could see it wasn't good from the reaction of the players. He looked distraught, but fingers crossed, we hope it's OK.
"When you see Declan Rice come over and say it's not good, you know it's not. The lad himself put his hand up, and he doesn't usually go down.
"It could be the end of his season, but there is a squad here ready to play. Josh Brownhill came in and has done really well. They reacted well from that, they are a good group."
Moments after the injury, Burnley took the lead through Wout Weghorst, but Maxwel Cornet was unable to double their lead before half-time, as the winger blasted a penalty wide.
The second half saw West Ham improve, and Burnley found themselves defending their lead after the break.
Despite some heroic goalkeeping from Nick Pope, the Hammers eventually found their way to goal in the 74th-minute through Tomas Soucek.
🤩 Sublime performance from Popey#WHUBUR | #UTC pic.twitter.com/IYWXsVesgl
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) April 17, 2022
The result leaves Burnley three points adrift from safety, but 17th-placed Everton boast a game in hand, making their task for survival a hugely uphill battle.
With just seven games remaining in the season, Burnley are still looking for a replacement for the recently-sacked Sean Dyche, but Jackson confirmed that he has also had no updates on the club's managerial search.
"I've not looked further forward than today," he added. "But I've seen a lot from this group, I know what they are like. Sometimes you need a bit of a foundation to build on and hopefully that comes from today.
"Everyone has rallied around. We'll have a recovery day tomorrow and go from there. But my thoughts now are about getting the on bus and going home.
"When it's ready I'm sure the board and the chairman will give the information the supporters want. But the priority is the next game."
