Mantell in fitness raceBy David Wright
May 09, 2012
Simon Mantell refuses to rule himself out of the Olympics despite suffering an injury during the test event at the London venue.
But the Reading forward's chances of making it must be regarded as 50-50 at the most.
Mantell, 28, suffered a fracture to his fifth metatarsal in his left foot after scoring one of Great Britain's goals in their 4-2 win over India last Thursday.
He said: "Unfortunately, these things happen in sport.
"It happened right at the end of the game. I just got caught with the follow through when an Indian was making a pass.
"It was a bit of a freak accident, but you get hit all the time in hockey.
"I was caught in the wrong spot, right on the bone
"At international level everybody is putting their bodies on the line and you are going to get hit. That what comes with a sport like hockey."
Before seeing a specialist yesterday, Mantell said: "It is a clean fracture so they will probably pop a pin in and that it will fix it nicely and I sill soon be on the road to recovery.
But he is still expecting to be sidelined for six to eight weeks and the Olympic tournament starts on July 29.
The GB squad is to be announced in mid-June and coach Jason Lee will have the difficult job of deciding whether to risk Mantell's fitness or bring in a replacement.
For the unlucky Mantell, this is not the first time he has been injured shortly before a major tournament.
Two years ago he danaged his foot as England trained for the World Cup in Delhi and was flown back home for surgery, shortly followed by older brother Richard, who suffered a dislocated and fractured right ankle during the 5-2 win over Pakistan.
Simon added: "That injury took a bit longer to recovery from, but I don't think this will be as long,
"If there is any chance of me making the Olympics, then I will be working extra hard to get fully fit again."
He wasn't the only Reading player injured in the four-nation tournament in the Olympic park.
Iain Mackay was hit on his knee after just five minutes of the opening game with Germany last Wednesday. He later returned to the field, but limped off after only another three minutes.
The midfielder missed the win over India, but returned for the 3-3 draw with
Australia on Saturday, only to be hurt again late in the game.
He took a clearance from goalkeeper Nathan Burgers to the side of his face and had to leave the field again.
But he played in the 2-1 win over India on Sunday, which earned GB third place behind Germany and Australia.
Mackay set up the 52nd-minute winning goal, rounding a defender before providing the cross for Rob Moore to sweep home, much to the delight of the 10,000 crowd.
Reading team-mate Nick Catlin nearly added a third in a one-on-one situation, but India keeper Bharat Chetri got down well to save.
Jonty Clarke, another Reading player, also caused the India defence plenty of problems, as he had done in the previous games.
Richard Mantell, who was rested from this tournament, is set to return to the squad when GB compete in the Sultan Azian Shah Cup in Malaysia which starts on May 24.