Lukaku: Injury lay-off has taken ´mental toll´

Romelu Lukaku has explained the mental toll of his injury-hit campaign as he targets a strong end to the season.

Lukaku withdrew from Belgium’s squad for this month’s fixtures against the United States and Mexico.

Belgium’s record scorer has managed just seven appearances for Napoli this season, totalling just 64 minutes.

In a social media post, the 32-year-old revealed the strain he has gone through while dealing with his injury lay-off.

Lukaku posted: “This season has been a lot for me, from dealing with the injury and the personal loss. I know there has been a lot of noise about my situation in the last few days and it’s important to clarify the whole situation.

“The truth is the last few weeks I wasn’t feeling right physically and I had it checked out while I was in Belgium and it showed me that there was an inflammation and liquid on my hip flexor muscle next to my scar tissue. It is the second problem I had since coming back early November.

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“I chose to do the rehab in Belgium so I can help the team when called upon. There’s nothing I would love more than to do than play and win with my team. But right now I have to make sure I am 100% because I haven’t been recently and it took a toll mentally.

“It’s been a lot this year. But in the end, I will get there and help Napoli and the national team to their respective objectives when called upon. That’s all I want.”

Belgium beat the USA 5-2 on Saturday, with Dodi Lukebakio scoring twice.

Roberto Martinez’s team face Mexico at Soldier Field in Chicago on Tuesday.