Patrick Bamford playing through ankle injury - report

Patrick Bamford hasn't really been his usual self of late. The Championship Player of the Season has experienced a marked drop-off in form recently, and according to the Daily Mail that's because he's battling injury, one which might jeopardise his place in the England squad for the under-21s European Championships.

If you trust their 'source close to the player' (and this is a non-sensational enough story that I don't see why they'd make it up or twist anything), Bamford has been playing on an ankle injury for about five weeks but is still hopeful that he can make the tournament:

He is determined to make it to play in the Czech Republic if he can. At the moment he’s optimistic that he will be ready in time and trusting in the advice being given him by the England medical team.

-Source: Daily Mail.

Specifically, the injury is reported as 'damage to the soft tissue areas around his achilles tendon', which is manageable, but I'd be inclined to ask him to skip the summer tournaments to rest up if I were Chelsea. Wherever he ends up next season, a fast start will be vital, and attempting to play through an injury to represent the England under-21s might risk his fitness for the start of pre-season.

Don't do it, Patrick. If you're going to play this summer, make sure you're healthy. Pretty please?