After sustaining a troubling a shoulder injury in the closing stages of our pre-season game at Dunston UTS, we can confirm Andrew Johnson has had surgery.
Providing us with a detailed update on Johnson’s situation, we spoke with Head of Sports Science and Medicine Steven Shaw to find out what the problem was, and what happens next for the Morpeth Town player:
“AJ suffered a full rupture of his AC Joint which needed work done straight away to secure the joint.
“It had some metal work and strong sutures which secure the ligaments while they repair naturally. Unfortunately, this requires another surgery to take the metal buttons out when they are happy the ligament has healed sufficiently.
“The problem with that is it’s not easy to timeline. Every person’s healing properties are individual to them; you can do things to help like taking collagen supplements etc but the most important thing is it’s not rushed because the ligaments need time to mature and that can take more than six months and in some cases more.
“However, he’s been given a loose estimate of four to six months based on his current athleticism etc. AJ is in good shape and works hard in the gym so you can guarantee he will go back in for that second surgery as quick as possible but he still has to be cautious and patient and allow the healing process to happen.
“We’re talking about potentially not being able to pick his kids above his head in the future if he’s not careful and that’s more important than football, so as much as I’d like to say he will be back for X game, it’s going to have to be a lot of hard work and patience.
“It’s difficult for an outfield player who feels he can run about and whip balls into the far corner still to be looking at this time out and he’s already chomping at the bit to get going but we all need to just give it time.”
We’re all behind you AJ!
