Athletics star Ennis hit by injury

WORLD heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis has withdrawn from the Aviva World Trials and UK Championships in her home town of Sheffield this weekend due to a foot injury.

Ennis, who is already assured of her place in the World Indoor Championships in Doha next month, said: "After competing in Glasgow last week and a pretty intense training week, I felt a slight niggle in my foot, like a muscle knot.

"An MRI scan on Monday night has shown a slight ligament strain and, as a precautionary measure under the advice of the UKA doctor Paul Dijkstra, I am going to have to rest it in the short term to ensure the quickest recovery.

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"This means me missing the trials this weekend in front of my home crowd; I am truly devastated."

After missing the Beijing Olympics in 2008 with a broken ankle Ennis is not about to take any chances with the injury.

She added: "Toni Minichiello, my coach, believes I am in the shape of my life and that reducing high-impact training now will not affect my preparations for Doha.

"After the disappointment of 2008 I am always going to err on the side of caution and am going to stick to low-impact training for a couple of weeks."

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Minichiello added: "We are being cautious, this is a slight strain of a ligament in her foot and we will be watching it closely over the next couple of weeks.

"But at this stage Jessica has every intention of taking part in the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham as part of her preparation for the World Indoors in Doha."