Bundesliga
Weston McKennie: "I try not to think about my shoulder splint"
Schalke and USA international midfielder Weston McKennie has revealed that he expects to have to play with a shoulder splint for the next "one to two months".
McKennie dislocated his left shoulder in Schalke’s 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on 15 December 2019, but managed to avoid surgery.
The 21-year-old returned to action ahead of schedule on Matchday 18, appearing as an 80th-minute substitute for Jonjoe Kenny in the 5-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
He later admitted he is still feeling some discomfort in the problem area.
"I’m playing with a splint, and will probably do so for the next one to two months," McKennie told media on Tuesday. "It’s uncomfortable sometimes. I fell on it [against Bayern], but it was well supported and everything was OK."
McKennie seemingly felt no ill effects of that fall, and played 90 minutes of Schalke's 0-0 draw away to Jürgen Klinsmann’s Hertha Berlin on Matchday 20, his 15th league appearance of the season.
Watch: McKennie: "I try not to think about my shoulder splint"
"Sometimes I don’t think about it, sometimes I think about it when I go up for headers a little bit," he told bundesliga.com after the draw in Berlin.
"I think one of the headers I went up to, I jumped and I hit my head and I was like ‘oh no’, but you know, I try not to think about it too much. If it happens, if happens."
McKennie has begun 11 of Schalke’s 20 league assignments so far this season, having also missed a couple of games in the autumn with a muscular strain.
The 19-time US international is enjoying his third full campaign in the Bundesliga, and has already made over 75 appearances in all competitions for the Royal Blues.