Chelsea star Mason Mount feared long-term injury after ex-Arsenal star Francis Coquelin’s Champions League lunge – The Sun

MASON MOUNT has revealed his fears that he was set for a long spell on the sidelines after he was forced off on his Champions League debut.

The Chelsea star was crocked during the 1-0 defeat against Valencia by a ferocious tackle from former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin.

There were fears that the 20-year-old had suffered ligament damage before scans revealed that he suffered nothing worse than a sprained ankle.

And Mount even performed a miraculous recovery to pass a late fitness to start Sunday’s 2-1 loss against Premier League leaders Liverpool.

He said: “As soon as I did it, in my head I thought it would be a long-term injury.

“We iced it and we let it calm down a bit. Then we realised it wasn’t as bad as I first thought.

“The next day I was kind of jogging on it a little bit. Then I knew there was a chance of being involved. Obviously, there was swelling and there is still swelling there now, but it is solid.

“It felt good when I trained the day before the game, so I was pretty positive leading up to the game that I could be involved.

"It was my Champions League debut and you don’t want it to end so soon like that but that’s football. It happened.

"I tried to stay positive and look forward to the Liverpool game and set a goal to get ready for that. I feel like I am quick at recovering. So we worked on it hard and I was able to get back."

When I had that chance at the end, (against Liverpool) which I thought I should have scored, I rolled my ankle a bit

When asked if the ankle caused him problems against Liverpool, Mount replied: “No, not at all.

“I think you have got to block that out of your head and to just try to focus on the game. When I had that chance at the end, which I thought I should have scored, I rolled my ankle a bit.

“It still felt fine afterwards. It was fine. It was good throughout the game. It felt solid, so it was alright.”

Mount has already established himself as a key player in only his first season as a Chelsea regular scoring three goals and earning his England debut earlier this month.

But when asked if he expected such a prominent role so quickly, the former Derby loanee added: “No, not really. I thought I would try and work hard, learn off the boys and work my way into the team.

“Obviously, for me, going into pre-season, that was my main focus. To show the manager that I was ready, even though I didn’t think I would be starting the games.

"But showing him that I was ready to come on and prove to him that I can start games, but obviously starting games at the beginning is a massive confidence builder and I have been loving it and just learning from each game, every day in training.

“[It's] nights, games like this where you learn the most that what you play football for. So [I’m] loving every minute, and loving the game."

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