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Manchester United players have burned themselves cooking and suffered dog bites during the coronavirus lockdown, according to the club doctor.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad are training at home following the suspension of football because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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And United doctor Steve McNally has said that although the unexpected break has given players time to rest, it has also prompted a rise of unusual injuries.
“Fortunately, most of the boys have been well and there’s been no real issues at all,” McNally said on the club’s official app.
“We’re not getting injuries fortunately, although there’s been a few unusual complaints because of things like trying their hand at cooking, or being bitten by the dog, that type of thing.
“The nutritionist got the boys on an Instagram page looking at cooking lessons, so a lot of them have started to develop a new skill — and get injured in the process, one or two.”
Despite being away from their Carrington training base, Solskjaer’s staff have been monitoring everything from the players’ fitness and their weight and nutrition.
“We managed to source a number of high-quality suppliers that were prepared to do safe home deliveries for them,” McNally said.
“We rolled that out to the players and they can basically choose a bespoke Man United hamper or food-type package.
“So hopefully they’re not going without the required quality of food and we hope the quantity is right.
“We understand obviously — and we’re all probably doing it ourselves — when you’re bored, it’s easy to comfort eat.
“The nutritionists are obviously doing a weekly weigh-in as well, so they’ve got a scheduled weigh-in every Friday morning with set parameters of their body-fat levels.
“But we’ll see what they’re like when we get back.”
There has also been added focus on their mental health while they wait for the green light to return to full training.
“We don’t want them to feel that they should be having mental health issues, but we’re very vigilant as a staff generally,” McNally added.
“We have a look out for one or two lads depending on our gut feeling and knowledge of them as individuals. It’s an important thing.
“Training every day is very competitive and they’ll be missing that, the daily banter and the positivity. I know they’ll be doing it in their WhatsApp groups, but it’s not the same.
“There will be different circumstances. There will be some boys with distractions around them, but some with a lot of time to kill.”