Ex-Leeds United player reveals injury left him in a 'back brace' after summer transfer

Ex-Leeds youngster Niall Huggins only made one senior appearance for the Whites but was a regular for the club’s successful Under-23 side before leaving for Sunderland last summer. The versatile full-back-stroke-midfielder played four times for the Black Cats before being ruled out with a back injury last autumn and has only recently returned to the field for the club’s Under-21 side.

Eyebrows were raised when in February 2021, Huggins was called upon from the bench by previous manager Marcelo Bielsa and given a Premier League debut at the Emirates’ Stadium. The Wales Under-21 international played just over half an hour in a 4-2 defeat but they would prove to be his only minutes in a Leeds shirt at the top level.

Huggins was named on the bench in the Premier League five more times before the end of the season, before electing to move on at the end of 2020/21. His fresh start in League One was hampered by a ‘stress fracture’ in his back, Huggins told the club’s official website via the Sunderland Echo, which kept him out of action for a considerable period.

“Basically, I had a stress fracture in my back which put me out for the initial long period of time. I was in a back brace for a while as I recovered from that.

“And then as I tried to come back out on the grass, a similar sort of bone issue occurred. This has happened several times – I had a bone issue on my heel and then my ankle.

“More recently I had a knee problem whilst being back out there running, which could be from the knee perhaps not working as it should. We’ve done a lot of tests and I’ve followed the right medical advice, and this is the furthest I’ve progressed since the pre-season trip to Portugal when I was back on the grass before. Hopefully we have no more setbacks now.

“It’s great to be back out there playing – it’s been a tough year,” Huggins added.