Watford breathe sigh of relief over Chakvetadze injury
Seeing Giorgi Chakvetadze stood outside Vicarage Road an hour after the final whistle, chatting to fans and having pictures taken, was almost like getting an extra point from the 1-1 draw with Coventry City.
The prospects for the Georgian looked bleak when, out of nowhere, he was laying motionless on his back just in front of the dug-outs in the second half.
The action had been in the Watford box but, when the ball went dead, attention suddenly turned to Chakvetadze and physios, medics and finally stretcher-bearers were called onto the pitch.
Having been carefully eased onto a back-board and slid onto the stretcher, he was carried off down the tunnel with his hands over his face.
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Sixty minutes later he was smiling and engaging with fans outside The Hornet Shop, underlining what his head coach had thought immediately after the game.
“The early signs are good. I don’t want to count my chickens just yet, but the early signs are good,” said Tom Cleverley.
“We think it was a back spasm, and that can be a bit scary from a player’s point of view as it’s not something you pick up every day.
“It just immobilised his back a little bit and the early signs are good.
“I’m sure it’s an accumulation of playing two games for Georgia and then coming back here and playing a really intense box-to-box game.
