Emegha urgency for Strasbourg after only 414 Ligue 1 minutes | OneFootball

Strasbourg, deprived of Joaquin Panichelli for the run-in, hope Emmanuel Emegha can return quickly, perhaps as early as the visit of Nice.

According to L'Équipe, he has spent three weeks building up with high-intensity running and is now with the group after tearing a hamstring on 4 December, the eve of the 1-0 defeat at Toulouse on 6 December. He has logged only 414 Ligue 1 minutes, across four starts, this season.

On 6 March, before the 0-0 draw at Auxerre, Gary O'Neil said he hoped to see him after the international break for that game. He trained fully on Monday and, after Thursday’s closed session, the club hoped he might play around 15 minutes on Saturday.

Panichelli has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and had surgery in Lyon on Thursday.

Emegha’s season has been turbulent off the pitch too, from a row with supporters after posing in a Chelsea shirt, ahead of a summer move to Chelsea, to a club suspension in early December over ill-judged comments and professionalism.

By early February his morale had sagged and the injury had stalled, with any World Cup dream fading, but team-mates Oyedele, Doué and Godo helped him rally. He has stayed present on matchdays and kept his standing. Whether he immediately regains the armband, worn by Mamadou Sarr, Ismaël Doukouré and Guéla Doué in his absence, is open, and O'Neil has yet to manage him. Sarr has since returned to Chelsea.

Source: L'Équipe