Gordon could be out for the season

May 2 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

CRAIG Gordon’s unhappy season could be over after he suffered a serious knee injury in training, writes MARK DOUGLAS.

The Scotland goalkeeper was left out of the West Brom defeat and will not play against Everton in tomorrow’s Stadium of Light clash either, with boss Ricky Sbragia admitting that Gordon may face an operation on the injured knee.

Gordon’s campaign has already been punctuated by a serious injury that was aggravated by Roy Keane’s decision to bring him back weeks before he was fully fit. When he eventually did recover fully in February, Sbragia preferred Márton Fülöp to the £9m man.

Now Gordon looks to have played his last game of the campaign, one match short of the 50 Sunderland appearances that would trigger a £330,000 payment to Hearts.

“Craig wasn’t left out at West Brom – I didn’t even know about that payment. It wouldn’t affect the decision one way or another. He’s got a slight injury to his knee and it’s a concern,” said Sbragia.

“Last week on the Thursday he reported that it was really sore and they injected it.

“Supposedly within six or seven minutes of an injection you should get some sort of feeling back into the knee, but he didn’t. He definitely wasn’t fit.

“If he doesn’t recover over the next few days, it would be an operation I would imagine.”