Ashton's Calf vs Knee Jerk Transfers

Dean Ashton had a stunning season opener for West Ham against Wigan, scoring twice and racking up 10 points. And at £6.5 million, many people will be looking to transfer him into their squad as a cheap but highly effective points scorer; a completely understandable reaction to his point scoring heroics.

However, Ashton had to leave the field in the 73rd minute with a calf injury sustained when he took a free kick. Will this affect his ability to make the starting lineup next week? With 9 other first team players sidelined through injury, Alan Curbishley may not want to risk furthering Ashton's injury. He is to undergo a scan on Monday; in the meantime he has been ruled out of England's friendly against Czech Republic at Wembley on Weds (20th Aug).

We've previously looked at transfer usage by the top 50 managers overall in last year's Fantasy Premier League competition, and seen that they averaged 1 transfer per week. This seems fairly obvious - the best teams kept to 1 transfer per week and did not lose 4 points by making double changes. Bringing Ashton in at this early stage potentially risks having to make a second transfer - something you should limit whenever possible.

At the time of writing, over 3400 FF managers had transferred Ashton into their squad already. There can be some advantage in immediately transferring in a player who did well, to capitalise on the likely price rise as other managers pick him up over the week. But transferring Ashton this early may well backfire if he is not cleared to play next week - a tougher match against Man City away. Some reports are touting his injury as "a severe cramp", but other agencies, including Sky Sports and BBC, are listing it as a calf strain.

If he were fully fit and you were looking to transfer a striker, Ashton would make a fantastic purchase. At this stage it is too early to tell - and that means its too early to risk making knee jerk transfers by bringing him into your squad.