Steven Thompson, the captain of St. Mirren, has apologised to John McGinn after accidentally impaling his teammate with a spike.
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The accident happened during a training ground prank but resulted in the victim, McGinn, being ruled out for three weeks due to injury.
36-year-old Thompson decided to get his own back when McGinn nicked the ball away from him during a training exercise, and jokingly threw a spiked pole at his 20-year-old teammate.
Thompson’s aim was a little too precise, perhaps, and the metal pierced the Scottish U21 international’s thigh, drawing extensive blood from the youngster.
Thompson later recounted the incident to the Scottish Sun: “I’ve been shocked by it, to be honest, really down about it,” he began, “I like a laugh and a joke in training, but for something like this to happen is just unbelievable.
“The pole went about a centimetre into his leg and he’s obviously got quite a bad injury. The word seems to be he’ll be out for around three weeks.”
McGinn missed St. Mirren’s victory over Kilmarnock at the weekend and it will be several weeks before he can return to action.
“I think he’s torn his muscle slightly and, while he needs to make sure it heals properly, there isn’t going to be any long-term damage.
“I’m just mortified by the whole thing. It was a daft prank. It wasn’t like I threw the pole out of anger or anything like that. That’s not what happened.”
According to BBC Sport, the Scottish club have confirmed that they will be dealing with the incident internally.
“I threw it for a laugh, stupid me trying to be funny, and unfortunately it’s anything but. It’s a total disaster.”