By Chris Wright
St Mirren captain Steven Thompson says he’s been left “mortified” after accidentally injuring one of his young teammates during a training session.
According to reports, 21-year-old midfielder John McGinn was wounded after Thompson accidentally javelined a “spiked training pole” through his leg in a textbook case of training ground antics gone awry.
After McGinn had the temerity to tackle Thompson during a drill, the veteran skipper sort of mock retaliated by hurling the pole at the young upstart as a “daft prank”, to use his own words.
However, the spear proceeded to puncture McGinn’s thigh, leaving him needing medical treatment and a three-week lay-off.
Thompson told the Scottish Sun:
“I’ve been shocked by it, to be honest, really down about it. I like a laugh and a joke in training, but for something like this to happen is just unbelievable.
“The pole went about a centimetre into his leg and he’s obviously got quite a bad injury.
“The word seems to be he’ll be out for around three weeks. I think he’s torn his muscle slightly and, while he needs to make sure it heals properly, there isn’t going to be any long-term damage.”
The 36-year-old striker continued:
“I’m just mortified by the whole thing. It was a daft prank. It wasn’t like I threw the pole out of anger or anything like that.
“That’s not what happened. I threw it for a laugh, stupid me trying to be funny, and unfortunately it’s anything but. It’s a total disaster.”
Oopsy daisy!
(Via BBC Sport)