FOOTBALL fans have been taken aback after seeing Tyrone Mings’ right leg.
Mings, 31, has been sidelined since August after suffering a horror ACL knee injury on the opening weekend of the season – a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle.
As he steps up his recovery, the Aston Villa defender shared images and videos of his rehab journey, which he described as a “real eye-opener”.
Alongside the videos Mings shared a helpful caption alongside each in an Instagram post.
His first post showed his knee in a brace following the injury he suffered at Newcastle last summer.
The second was a video which showed his leg with plaster as he tried to do some light stretching with it – with a creaking able to be heard as his leg moved.
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Mings also posted the moment where he stood for the first time without crutches following the injury before his next post featured him laying down and stretching with the aid of a band.
That video highlighted the “muscle wastage” on Mings’ leg, with his right leg looking far thinner than his left by this point.
This is a condition known as muscle atrophy, which is the decrease in the size of muscle tissue due to a lack of physical activity.
And fans were stunned at the visible difference between his two legs.
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Taking to social media, one fan said: “The muscle change after an injury is so mad!! Glad you’re nearly back Ty.”
A second said: “What a horrible injury to have. Hope he gets back to his best.”
A third added: “Brutal rehab.”
Another said: “That must have hurt a lot…damn!”
Mings’ struggles were not just physical, with his Instagram post also detailing how his first four months of rehabilitation felt.
He also revealed how he went on a training programme to Philadelphia in the USA for three weeks to meet Bill Knowles; a reconditioning specialist who has had clientele including the likes of Callum Wilson, Danny Welbeck and Tiger Woods.
His comeback routine involved Mings doing exercises to get “moving like an athlete”.
These included going from a standing position to laying on his back and getting back up in one motion and him tuning his agility as he moved from side to side on another device – which left Mings visibly knackered.
The next step shown was him “learning to coordinate ‘running patterns again’” as he was seen doing a high-knee run on a trampoline.
Mings signed off his post with a picture from Villa training last week where he appeared to be in high spirits.
He is not the only star at Villa to have suffered an ACL injury this season, with Emiliano Buendia also out with a similar issue he suffered merely days before the defender.
Manager Unai Emery said on the pair: “Always they are in our mind.
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“They have spirit and they support us in the training ground. I think all the season they are going to be out, but hopefully they can train at the end of the season.
“Then starting next season being fine to come back like before.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
