At the most momentous moment of the season, Manolo González's Espanyol will not be able to count on Martin Braithwaite. The top scorer in the category, the most decisive player, the man on whom Espanyol's promotion options rest, has been injured. A sprain in his knee during the match against Zaragoza is the reason why the Danish striker will not be with the rest of the team for two to three weeks, at best.
The player underwent an MRI this Monday morning in which it was confirmed that he suffers from an entorsis in his right knee. The club, through a statement, made public the striker's injury without confirming recovery times, but in the best of cases Braithwaite would miss between two and three weeks of competition.
Knee entorsis is known as a grade I sprain, and the usual recovery time, always taking into account the player's discomfort, is three to four weeks. If it were grade II, the leave would be between 4 and 6 weeks.
What seems certain is that Braithwaite will miss at least the next two games, maybe three. To begin with, he could not be against Tenerife at Stage Front Stadium this Saturday. He would not be in Burgos-Espanyol (March 29), nor in Espanyol-Albacete (April 7). If the discomfort continues, he could also miss the decisive match against Leganés, leader of the category, on April 12.
The match in Zaragoza left a second significant injury. Rubén Sánchez, who was playing his first game as a starter, had to ask for a change. Tests have revealed that he suffers from a fibrillar micro-tear in the calf of his right leg.
