Injury-plagued Leeds United striker Michael Bridges will undergo surgery on an Achilles tendon injury on Friday and has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Bridges, 24, ruptured the tendon in Leeds' UEFA Cup third round defeat by Malaga on Thursday. He was starting only his second game since September 2000 after knee and ankle injuries.
Manager Terry Venables said he was heart-broken for his player. "It's all happened very fast," Venables told a news conference. "I think he's got an avalanche of emotions going on in his head from not even 24 hours ago when he's bubbling and ready to go, to where he's in hospital waiting for an operation. It won't have really hit him properly yet.
"I spoke to him this morning. I suppose the shock is still there but he's quite bright. He knows he's got this operation tonight. I said 'you've got to be strong and keep going' and he said 'I don't think it's as bad as the last injury', so that's a positive way of looking at it when something like that has happened."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
