Saints boss Mallinder allays Burrell injury fears

Jim Mallinder has allayed fears surrounding Luther Burrell’s second-half withdrawal at Leicester, saying the centre has merely sustained a ‘sore shoulder’.

By Tom Vickers

Published 6th Oct 2013, 01:16 BST

WORRYING SIGHT - Luther Burrell left the Welford Road pitch after sustaining an injury (picture by Linda Dawson)

Burrell exited the Welford Road stage with 10 minutes to go, clutching his arm as he made his way towards the touchline.

In his absence, Saints, who had led by 10 points, were pegged back as Tigers recovered to claim a 19-19 draw.

Burrell’s injury would appear to be a concern, with back-to-back Heineken Cup games coming up, but Mallinder has played down the extent of the problem.

“He took a knock to his shoulder,” said the director of rugby. “I think we could have given him a bit more time to see if he could get back on his feet, but clearly he’d had a big, heavy 70 minutes so it was the right thing to do to take him off.

“He’s just got a bit of a sore shoulder.”

Leicester Tigers