Sponsored by
Irish ace Douglas is ruled out for the season
Leeds United have ruled Jonathan Douglas out for the rest of the League One season following a second examination of the midfielder's knee problem.
Douglas' injury was inspected by a surgeon on Christmas Eve, and manager Dennis Wise admitted he no longer expected to have him available before their campaign draws to a close on May 3.
Wise said: "It's easier if we take it as him being out for the rest of the season. If we get him back before then it's a plus for us."
Douglas twisted his knee in the final minutes of United's 1-1 draw at Walsall earlier this month, and his injury has removed the only regular presence in the centre of Wise's midfield.
The 26-year-old was virtually ever-present during the first half of the season and Wise has struggled to fill the vacancy with a regular alternative, with both Radostin Kishishev and Alan Thompson lacking the fitness to play every match over the Christmas period.
Youngster Jonathan Howson has been turned to by Wise to provide running power in midfield following Douglas' set-back.
Thompson delivered an influential display against Bristol Rovers last weekend, but the midfielder was left on the bench during United's Boxing Day clash with Hartlepool United having taken almost two months to recover from calf and hamstring problems.
Wise admitted the temptation to thrown Thompson into his line-up on a regular basis had increased as a result of Douglas' injury, but he has vowed to protect his captain through the second half of the season, regardless of how badly Leeds require his services.
Wise said: "Thommo's getting on a bit, and your body starts to tell you that you can't play as many games as you'd like to.
"You can't do what you did when you were 21-years-old.
"You end up pulling hamstrings and calves, and I had it towards the end of my career.
"I pulled my calf six times in one year. You have to be managed.
"I want him to get into the team, and I want him to be fit and to dictate things because he can.
"But what I don't want is to keep losing him – where he plays one game then misses five, plays one game then misses 10.
"Because I lost Jonathan Douglas, the temptation is probably bigger now.
"It wasn't so massive when I had Jonathan, but it's a situation that you have to get right. That's my job.
"Alan is influential, he's a big person in the dressing room and he's important. He knows that.
"But he also knows the other part of it, which is that he's got to be careful."
Email to a friend
Print this page- Politics: Mark Hookham's Westminster blog - 5.33pm
- Castleford RSPB Fairburn Ings: High wire act Swallows’ summer parade
- Worker dies on North Yorkshire Moors Railway
- Video: Restaurant reopens on Leeds Harry Ramsden’s site after £500,000 refit
- Chocolat author will tempt guests at Leeds Big Bookend Festival
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
