BURTON Albion were dealt a blow at the start of this season when both Ben Fox and Callum Hawkins took ACL injuries within a matter of weeks, and were subsequently ruled out for the majority of the season.
Ben Fox was unfortunate in just the first half of the first pre-season friendly of the season against Matlock Town, whilst Callum picked up his injury during training not long afterwards.
Since then the two young players have been on the long road to recovery, but now both are back in training and amongst the playing squad once more, and manager Nigel Clough has been able to provide an update on both players.
“Both are back in training,” Clough said. “Ben Fox is slightly ahead of Callum because he did his a bit earlier.
“Ben is back in training and looking good.
“At the end of the month, we will review it again and see about him getting contact in matches.”
Callum is now nearing the end of his recovery period too, so is also involved in training like Fox.
“Callum Hawkins is doing all the goalkeeping work but hasn’t joined in a [training] game yet. He won’t be far off, maybe in the next week or two.”
Nigel Clough says that it is a boost to the whole squad to see the young players back from their injuries, especially ones that have seen them on the sidelines for such long periods.
“It is brilliant to see them both back.
“It has been a long time when you think back to last July; it is a long time for young footballers to be out, so everybody is delighted to see them back on the training pitch.”