Injury Report - Smith suffers fractured ankle

Wednesday, September 27th 2017

Bristol Flyers can confirm Leslee Smith has suffered a fractured ankle and is expected to be out of action for the next few weeks.

Smith rolled his left ankle during the opening game of the British Basketball All-Stars Championship last Sunday, and was forced to miss the remainder of the tournament.

After receiving an X-ray of the foot and ankle, the images were reviewed by Nuffield Health’s onsite experts at their private Bristol Hospital, The Chesterfield.

The pictures conclude that Smith’s injury could see him return to action in November.

SMITH MADE 32 APPEARANCES FOR THE FLYERS LAST SEASON, AVERAGING 12.3 POINTS AND 7.8 REBOUNDS PER GAME.

Flyers head coach Andreas Kapoulas stated: “Leslee is a valuable member of our team and his injury comes at a crucial time as we get set to open the new season.

"It’s far from ideal, but during the season we will need to learn to deal with adversity, which will require all of our players to step up to cover his absence.

“Unfortunately injuries are something that we cannot control and we will have to wait for him to fully recover before he steps back on the court.

“He will be working with the specialist team at Nuffield Health, who along with the support of our club physiotherapist Craig Barden will help him return to full strength as soon as possible.”

Nuffield Health Bristol Hospital Director, Sheryl Krause added: “It was a great shame to see our sponsored player suffer an early injury at the O2 Arena, not least because we know he will have been upset to miss the rest of the tournament.

"As always, Nuffield Health will do all that we can to help get Leslee back to full fitness and on the court as soon as possible. The only positive to take from this is that it wasn’t more serious”

Elsewhere, Jordan Nicholls returned to practice this week following an ankle injury, which kept him out of pre-season action, whilst new addition Chris Taylor is recovering from a sprained wrist sustained over the summer.

Estimates suggest that Nicholls could return for Saturday’s opening night clash with the Plymouth Raiders (7.30pm).