(Photo by Ben Early - AMA/Getty Images)
There was good news for Scotland manager Steve Clarke on Wednesday night. The national team boss saw Norwich City midfielder Kenny McLean make a long-awaited return from injury.
McLean had missed four games with a torn meniscus. Indeed, there had been a fear at one time that he would have been out of action for five months, if the 28-year-old had needed an operation.
However, that turned out not to be needed. Instead, McLean was out of action for only around three weeks, and he came on as a late substitute in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
Kenny McLean in action for Norwich City (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
McLean played the last seven minutes of the game, and he helped Norwich to a vital win, which helped put the Canaries three points clear at the top of the Championship table.
Norwich has a lot of games on the horizon. Indeed, they are set to play five league games between now and the end of the year.
That could well mean more game time for McLean as he recovers from his injury. Norwich manager Daniel Farke won’t want to rush the player back though. It might well be that the player remains on the bench for the next few games as he gets back to full fitness.
Kenny McLean scores for Scotland against Israel (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Still, it is good news for the player, his club and Scotland that the injury is nowhere near as bad as it could have been.
Had McLean been out for five months which could have been the case, then he would have faced a real battle to prove his fitness ahead of Euro 2020. Thankfully that is not the case, and he is back.