By Daniel Lewis

19th Sep, 2023 | 7:40pm

Fabrizio Romano drops 'bad news' Brentford update as Rico Henry ruled out for season ahead of Everton match

Brentford have suffered a significant injury blow ahead of next weekend’s Premier League clash with Everton as defender Rico Henry is likely to miss the rest of the season through injury.

The 26-year-old injured his knee shortly before half-time in Brentford’s 1-0 loss at Newcastle United on Saturday [16 September].

Fabrizio Romano posted on his personal Twitter page about the “bad news”, with Brentford confirming on their official website on Tuesday [19 September] that Henry is facing “a prolonged period of recovery” once undergoing surgery.

Head of medical Neil Grieg added: “Whilst this is disappointing, Rico has been through a similar experience in the past and is already focussed on using this as an opportunity to become fitter and stronger than before.

“We will support him fully throughout this process.”

Speedy recovery

Henry is Brentford’s longest-serving player and has missed only five Premier League games since August 2021, which highlights just how important he is to Thomas Frank.

This is undoubtedly a huge blow for the Bees ahead of the Toffees’ trip to West London next Saturday [23 September], and of course for the remainder of their season.

Mads Roerslev was brought on for Henry at St James’ Park and it may well be that he slots in at full-back next weekend, making it an area to target.

While this can be considered a positive development from Everton’s perspective, that is a rather selfish way of looking at it.

Henry has already had numerous injury problems in the past and this is a cruel blow after finally getting his career back on track.

With a bit of luck, he will be back playing ahead of schedule at some point later in the season.

In other Everton news, a pundit has said Beto will be wondering “why on earth” he made the switch to Goodison Park.