Brentford found themselves needing to replace Christian Eriksen when he decided not to stay at the club and to head to Manchester United instead. They seem to have found that player after the quick development of Josh Da Silva, who got the late equaliser against Leicester City on the opening weekend. This was followed up by a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United on the second matchday, when he got his second goal in two games. The Angolan-born English midfielder has put behind him an 18-month ordeal due to a rare hip injury that sent him to the infirmary in February 2021 with no return date. https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSpiuBB06sU "It was tough," Da Silva told the Brentford website, when reflecting on that injury. "In a way it was good for me. Most of what happened was out of my control, so I focused on what I could control. That was mainly about getting back to fitness as good as I could have. "I've got good family and friends, and the people around the club have been second to none. It's not been easy but I think I've handled it quite well." What was the injury that Josh Da Silva had? "In simple terms, I lost a bit of bone in my hip," the player recalled. "It was swollen, so I had to wait for that to go down and then wait for the bone to repair itself. "I was speaking to the best specialist in the UK and he's telling me he hasn't seen it in sports before. "The initial conversation was that I might not be able to play again. "I laughed because I wasn't going to stop playing. I just knew that whatever time it took for me to get back, that's what it will be. "There weren't any alarm bells, but I did think that originally it would only be eight to 12 weeks. "You get the news it will be a lot longer and you just have to get on with it and crack on." He has certainly done that and is set to become one of the stars of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
