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Leeds United: Injury set to sideline Fabian Delph for the season
SICKENING INJURY: The tackle by Coventrys Oliver Norwood which looks likely to sideline Fabian Delph for the rest of this season.
Fabian Delph’s time at Leeds United appears to be over, with an ankle injury threatening to end the midfielder’s season.
Delph is facing a minimum recovery period of six to eight weeks after straining ligaments in Leeds’ recent defeat to Coventry City, and the injury has cut short his month-long loan from Aston Villa.
The 22-year-old was scheduled to make the final appearance of his initial deal against Portsmouth this weekend, but Villa expect him to miss the remainder of the term and have not ruled out the possibility of Delph undergoing surgery.
Leeds sent him back to Villa for treatment last week, and he is understood to have visited a specialist in London yesterday for further assessments of the damage.
Villa manager Alex McLeish said: “He’s not fit and I don’t know if he’ll play again this season.
“I think he’s rolled his ankle enough to rule him out. It’s a shame.”
Delph is fighting to avoid an operation having seen his career at Villa Park hindered by fitness problems, but his latest injury has effectively ended the option of United extending his loan through the closing stages of their Championship term.
Former manager Simon Grayson signed Delph on an emergency basis midway through January, and Neil Redfearn – United’s caretaker in the wake of Grayson’s sacking – admitted last week that the Elland Road club would be keen to retain him.
It is not clear whether new Leeds boss Neil Warnock intended to pursue an extension but the loss of Delph, above, has weakened United’s resources in the centre of midfield.
The England Under-21 international was hurt during the second half of Leeds’ 2-1 defeat to Coventry on February 14, the last five Championship appearances made by Delph.
He left the Ricoh Arena on crutches and was immediately sent back to his parent club for assessment by Villa’s medical staff.
The Premier League were already questioning whether to extend Delph’s loan after rejecting an original attempt by Leeds to sign him until the end of the season.
McLeish recently indicated that Delph would be recalled following the conclusion of his initial deal, saying: “If he’s playing well then he might see there’s an opportunity for him here.”
* Warnock, meanwhile, took the chance to assess the wider reaches of United’s squad during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Hull City at Thorp Arch yesterday afternoon.
Nathan Turner, Lloyd Sam and Billy Paynter all found the net but Hull struck four times in return to claim a 4-3 win.
United: M Taylor, Smith, Connolly, Bromby, C Taylor, N Turner, Thompson, Nunez, Sam, Paynter, Forssell.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 6 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
OzTyke
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:53 PMIt's rotten luck for Delph, but his loan period is now over, so if he has a serious injury ruling him out for the rest of the season, why the blazes is the club considering extending his loan spell? Shouldn't he be "off-hire" by now and back at Villa on the treatment table? Didn't we sell our club captain and longest-serving player Howson with indecent haste for the same reason, because he'd be injured for a few more weeks? MOT
HG Leeds Fan
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 04:50 PMI didn't really look at the photo straight away - that looks bad for Norwood, and even worse for Delph. Injuries seem to follow certain players.
fullerton
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 02:06 PMEvery picture tells a story...If it had been televised live on SKY and a Leeds player had done this we could all guess the outcome.
leedsls27
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 12:09 PMThe most sickening thing about this incident was the fact the referee didn't even give a free kick at the time, he was on top of the tackle and waived it away leaving Delph on the floor clearly needing treatment and then, if I remember rightly, when he eventually styopped play, he booked one of our players for dissent for protesting. Delph had turned Norwood in midfield then, as the picture clearly shows, Norwood caught him with a scissor tackle, from behind and so late the ball is barely in the frame. Everyone, to a man, thought it was a bad tackle at the time and were up in arms so to receive a season ending injury as a result, and the referee not even deeming it worthy of a free kick, shows up the pitiful standard of some the referee's in the Championship. As the song goes, sh*t refs, we only get sh*t refs...
bramley whites
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 11:21 AMNorwood is manc scum xxxxxxx der dum der dum
Leeds83
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 10:41 AMThis says it all - does anyone else not notice that Norwood (who's on loan from Man Utd) has dived in from behind with a 2 footed scissor tackle. This kind of tackle which has resulted in a season threating injury should be a red card and 3 match ban!
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