Coventry City's Josh Eccles grew EXTRA BONE after freak dead leg

Updated: 23 Nov, 2025 • 0 • min read

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Coventry City's Josh Eccles grew EXTRA BONE after freak dead leg

Coventry City midfielder Josh Eccles has opened up about the bizarre injury that sidelined him for months, and even caused his body to grow an extra bone.

The 25-year-old made his first appearance of the season last weekend, coming off the bench in the goalless draw against Leicester City, after missing pre-season with one of the strangest football injuries you'll hear.

Eccles explained to BBC CWR how the problem started during the play-off semi-final defeat to Sunderland in May.

It was a bizarre injury. I managed to get a dead leg twice in the same place within five minutes of each other and I got forced off.

A dead leg takes two weeks maximum to recover, but it got to the third week and the pain was getting worse so I messaged the physio staff to get a scan.

There was so much blood around the bone, the body's natural instinct is to start healing, and because it was so close to the bone the body thought it was bone that needed repairing so the blood turned into bone.

So technically right now in my left leg there's an extra bone that's been growing for two months.

Pain, Fear - and Relief

The Coventry-born midfielder admitted he feared the unusual knock might impact the rest of his career.

It was really painful at the time and there wasn't a lot I could do in the off-season, even lifting my leg at the time was super-painful, but it's weird how it's suddenly healed and I'm not aware of it now.

With injuries you feel when the pain isn't going away, is this going to be for the rest of my career or will it affect me? But the more you train the more you forget about it and the pain has gone now so I'm back to normal.

Known for his aggressive, combative style, Eccles was also concerned the injury might take the edge off his game, but his Leicester cameo showed otherwise.

In my game I'm a bit aggressive but I thought this injury could stop me. But playing the other day I still had that aggressiveness in me and it'll always be a part of me.

Aiming High With Coventry

Eccles, who came through Coventry's academy and has already made 162 appearances for the Sky Blues, signed a long-term deal last November to keep him at the club until 2028.

He's now focused on playing a major role in Coventry's latest Championship promotion push.

I don't think anyone expected it to be such a long injury and I had to miss pre-season, which set me back a bit, so it was great to get some minutes.

Eccles is expected to feature again in Saturday's clash with Birmingham City, as he looks to kickstart his season after one of football's most unusual setbacks.

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