Sunderland’s Craig Gordon could be forced to sit out the start of the 2011/2012 Premier League season after undergoing a compulsory knee operation.
The 28-year-old recently headed over to Sweden to see knee specialist Professor Hakan Alfredson, who eventually performed the operation on the goalkeeper, who could take up to half a year to return to full fitness again. This means that he will probably be forced to miss Scotland’s crucial Euro 2012 qualifiers later this year, with the national team preparing to face Czech Republic and Lithuania in early September before coming up against Spain the following month.
The latest chapter in the goalkeeper’s lengthy tale of injury problems will represent a huge setback to both club and country, but it is clearly most disappointing of all for the man involved, with Gordon forced to endure a despairing season up at Sunderland this year. Shortly after breaking into the Black Cats’ starting line-up, he found himself sidelined by a broken arm and then the club’s second choice Simon Mignolet found himself the first choice after a spell of decent performances. In fact, the shot-stopper has made just 15 appearances this term for Sunderland, with the last coming more than two months ago.
Gordon did previously make clear in the media that surgery, in his eyes, was a last resort for his persistent knee problems, but the goalkeeper would seem to have been overruled by current Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, who stated that club officials were left with no other practical option but to opt for the surgical route to recovery for a man still in the relatively early stages of his career.
If Gordon can make a full recovery over the summer and come back before the busy Christmas period in the league raring to go, Sunderland could yet benefit from a man who, although without game time under his belt, is full of the need to prove himself all over again to a club that previously made him their record signing.
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