Michael Kenrick 08/01/2024 14comments  |  Jump to last

Everton loanee Stan Mills was stretchered off during Oxford United's 6-2 FA Cup defeat at Coventry City on Saturday with a serious knee injury and was subsequently taken to hospital.

Mills had come on as a half-time substitute and the incident occurred deep into added time when he twisted awkwardly in the act of shooting. Us manager Des Buckingham said: “It’s horrible to see any player carried off on a stretcher, clutching his knee.

“I’m not a medical expert and I don’t even think that the guys who have taken him off will know exactly what it might be, but all we can do is surround him with the care of the medical team.

“Coventry have been extremely helpful with their medical team, and they’ve taken him off to the hospital, and he’s with his parents and some of our staff, so he’s in the best care he can be. Once we get some information on him, we’ll share that.”

Subsequent scans have revealed a patella tendon tear that will require surgery to correct.

The Everton U21 player has been on loan with Oxford since the beginning of the season and has made 27 appearances for them but now there are concerns that his season is over and he will likely spend the rest of the campaign at Finch Farm for his extended recovery.

 

Reader Comments (14)

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Danny O’Neill
1 Posted 08/01/2024 at 10:34:21
I, like most, hope this isn't as bad as it sounds.

I don't watch the Under-21s too much, but he has impressed me when I have done, alongside Warrington, who I also believe is injured.

Dave Abrahams
2 Posted 08/01/2024 at 10:35:01
I hope, like McNeil's injury, that it's not too serious. Stan has good potential to make it at Everton.

Best of luck, lad, and I hope you are back playing soon.

Gerry Quinn
3 Posted 08/01/2024 at 12:43:59
Wishing speedy recovery to all Everton players and also to all Everton supporters in this New Year.
Dennis Stevens
4 Posted 08/01/2024 at 13:44:16
Crikey! Is that a third player we've had stretchered off recently?
Derek Knox
5 Posted 08/01/2024 at 14:00:51
I have to agree with all my fellow Tw'ers, not at all good news all round. Like Danny and Dave have alluded, this lad has the potential to make it.

Let's hope as with all the other injuries they are short recoveries with no lasting effects!

Michael Kenrick
6 Posted 08/01/2024 at 14:18:20
There's a bit more coverage of this from the BBC:

Stan Mills: Oxford United midfielder ruled out for rest of season

Brian Wilkinson
7 Posted 08/01/2024 at 15:28:40
Gutted with this news. I always rated Mills, he certainly has the potential.

Will we ever catch a break?

Mike Gaynes
8 Posted 08/01/2024 at 17:58:14
Horrible to hear. A gifted and passionate young player who always looks like he is immensely enjoying himself on the pitch. May he return to it soon, and unhindered.

A patellar tendon tear in a footballer is a freakish injury. A partial tear would generally be treated with immobilization and physical therapy. If he's having surgery, that likely means a complete rupture of the tendon from the kneecap. It's a long, slow recovery, but typically he'd expect to be playing again next season.

All the best to the young man.

Paul Ferry
9 Posted 08/01/2024 at 19:25:15
Hate to see his face in that picture, no one wants to see that sort of thing. Fingers crossed that Stan makes a full and speedy recovery.

Great name, Stan Mills, no nonsense, makes me think of Alf Tupper or inter-war footy.

Paul Birmingham
10 Posted 08/01/2024 at 19:43:27
Hoping Stanley makes a full recovery from this injury.

I do believe he has the ability and guts to make the grade, hopefully at Everton.

Mark Boullé
12 Posted 08/01/2024 at 23:13:25
I live in Oxford and have watched him a few times this season. Glad I took the opportunity rather than waiting until the second half of the campaign...

He's got pace to burn and isn't afraid to run at his full-back. Needs to work on his end product, but you'd expect that at his age and playing in League One, where time and space are at a premium.

I liked the way he's battled back into the Oxford team after beginning the season in the XI, then losing form a bit and finding himself on the bench for a few games.

Not that a player's social media is much to go on, but his heart has certainly seemed in the right place at Oxford as well, according to Instagram.

Such a shame this has happened. I do hope he'll be back the same player and maybe get a chance at Everton next season.

Lee Courtliff
13 Posted 10/01/2024 at 11:46:06
Good luck to both him and Warrington in their recoveries. I was hoping to see them given a chance in the first team this season but that, obviously, isn't going to happen.

I watched them both in pre-season at Bolton and they looked promising players but neither, especially Warrington, seem to have done all that well in their respective loans. Hopefully they're just late bloomers, by today's standards.

Si Cooper
14 Posted 11/01/2024 at 11:41:37
There was a time footballers got surgery when the masses generally got rest and recovery for the same injuries, but then it became known that the quicker option didn't always produce lasting results.

I don't know where the 'surgery vs let nature sort it out' balance now rests. Just hopeful that the lad gets the best treatment available and makes a full and speedy recovery.

John Graham
15 Posted 12/01/2024 at 15:29:33
A shame for this to happen to the lad. He seemed to be doing quite well and had been getting a lot of game time.

Let's hope everything goes well with the surgery and he comes back stronger.

Good luck, Stanley.

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