Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has conveyed his heartfelt best wishes to the young Nottingham Forest player who suffered a severe injury during the match at Brunton Park.
Sam Collins was forced to leave the field on a stretcher late in the game following a challenge with Carlisle’s Owen Moxon. Simpson expressed his concern that the visiting Under-21 captain may have sustained a broken leg and emphasized that the entire club is keeping the 19-year-old in their thoughts.
Simpson stated, “You don’t want to witness such incidents. I was worried when Mox went for it; I thought it was a dangerous tackle for both players involved. I don’t believe either of them had any ill intentions toward each other; they both went in with full commitment. Our thoughts are undoubtedly with him, and I hope he experiences a swift recovery. This incident casts a shadow on the evening.”
Collins received extensive medical attention before being stretchered off the field in the 90th minute of Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 victory in the EFL Trophy group stage.
Simpson expressed his concern for the outcome as soon as he saw the challenge unfold, describing it as a tackle that could result in a broken leg. He mentioned that it sounded like that when the collision occurred.
According to the Blues manager, there was no malice or intent to harm on the part of either player. Moxon took a touch, and it seemed that another defender was closer to the ball at the time, but Collins approached from the side. He got to the ball first, and Moxon attempted to clear it, unintentionally making contact with Collins. Simpson described it as a situation where he wished they could have avoided the challenge, saying, “It was a tackle where I thought, ‘No, don’t go for it, just back out.’ Mox said he couldn’t back out at that point, but I told him that, being 2-0 down with two minutes left, you should withdraw from such challenges. Unfortunately, these are tackles that can result in leg injuries, and one person has come out of it with an injury.”
