Ennis out of UK Championships with foot injury

WORLD heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis has withdrawn from this weekend's UK Indoor Championships and World Trials with a foot injury.

INJURY SCARE: Jess Ennis withdraws from the UK Indoor Championships this weekend as a precautionary measure (Getty Images)

The 24-year-old picked up from where she left off at the start of the 2010 season and has clocked personal bests in the long jump, shot put, high jump as well as clocking a new British 60m hurdles record in Glasgow.

Ennis was forced to sit out the 2008 Olympics in Beijing with an ankle fracture but she is adamant her withdrawal from the meet in her home town is purely a precautionary measure, having suffered a strained ligament in her right foot.

"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.

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

"My coach [Tony Minichiello] believes I am in the shape of my life, and that reducing high impact training now will not affect my preparations for the World Indoor Championships.

"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."

And Tony Minichiello is optimistic Ennis will be back in action at the Birmingham Grand Prix on February 20 with a view to the World Indoor Championships in Doha next month.

"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," he said.

"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."