Anthony Forde On The Mend After Suffering Broken Ribs & Punctured Lung

Former Irish U19 and U21 international Anthony Forde suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung in Oxford United’s 0-0 draw against Shrewsbury at the weekend.

Forde went in for a tackle on former Manchester United man Donald Love in the League One clash on Saturday and came off the worse of the two, as he was rushed straight to hospital after finding himself struggling for breath.

The former Wolves and Rotherham man was treated for the pneumothorax and rib injuries, two of which were broken in two places.

Forde is now recovering from his injuries and speaking to Oxford’s website he described the incident and expressed his gratitude towards the staff at the Kassam Stadium and at the John Radcliffe hospital.

“It was just one of those things. I went in for a tackle, we collided and I knew straight away I was in trouble.

“I want to thank the pitch-side medical team for their help and then everyone, from the ambulance team to the doctors and staff at the JR, have been amazing.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s still very painful, but we know what it is and we know there is no long-term damage to my lung, so hopefully it’s just a case of the ribs healing now.”

Oxford head coach Karl Robinson also spoke on the injury and refused to put a time-scale on Forde’s return to the first-team squad.

“Fordy was really struggling and that’s not nice for the other lads to see,” said Robinson.

“But we know he is in good hands and they will just keep an eye on him for a day or two before he goes home and starts his recovery.

“We won’t set a timescale on that, it’s far too early. It’s just good news that everything has been diagnosed clearly and now we can seek specialist advice on how to help Fordy get back to full fitness.”

Forde played 11 times for Ireland’s U21s between 2012 and 2014, scoring twice.