Broken arm devastating for Black Cats keeper

Nov 9 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

CRAIG Gordon could be ruled out of action until after Christmas after breaking his arm in a collision with Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe during the painful 2-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

Gordon has already withdrawn from the Scotland squad ahead of their friendly against Wales next weekend, and is expected to have a cast on his arm for up to six weeks while the bone heals.

However, even when the cast is removed, doctors may advise the goalkeeper to rest rather than risk any heavy contact which is likely to prolong his spell out of the side, and manager Steve Bruce will hope Márton Fülöp manages to avoid injury while on international duty with Hungary this week.

It is a bitter blow for Gordon who has re-established himself as Sunderland’s first-choice goalkeeper this season after a persistent ankle injury last term, which meant he started the campaign on the bench.

Meanwhile, Andy Reid does not believe many teams will play better than Sunderland against Tottenham this season as he bemoaned the Black Cats’ misfortune at White Hart Lane. Reid was in excellent form on his return to Spurs, although he was left frustrated as a mixture of poor finishing and inconsistent refereeing helped his former side take all three points. He said: “There probably won’t be too many teams that come here and play better football against them than we did.

“Their goalkeeper saved a penalty, but I don’t even think that he should have been on the pitch.

“Without wanting to get people sent off, that’s the rules of the game. You don’t want to be slagging off referees, but we just feel that maybe the crowd got on his back.”