Cats star Craig Gordon out for three months

Nov 17 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

MARTON Fulop will be given another chance to stake his claim to be regarded as Sunderland's first choice goalkeeper following the news Craig Gordon will be sidelined for the next three months.

Gordon could be ruled out until the middle of February with the broken arm he suffered in a controversial collision with England international Jermain Defoe against Tottenham Hotspur.

Gordon is still angry about the clash with the Spurs striker and has accused Defoe of not doing enough to avoid impact with him as he dived at his feet in the second-half of the 2-0 away defeat.

If that has left him with a bitter taster in his mouth, it will be even sourer this morning following the news he is unlikely to be cleared to play for at least three months as doctors have ordered him to avoid heavy physical contact, even when the plaster has been removed, to allow time for the break to heal properly.

It is a tough blow to take for the Scotland international, who has reclaimed the goalkeeper’s jersey at the Stadium of Light following a nightmare year in which he has suffered badly because of a serious knee injury which wiped out more than half of last season.

It is also another significant setback for manager Steve Bruce who returned from holiday yesterday to discover the full extent of the problem, which comes just a few weeks after he was also told he would be forced to cope without influential midfielder Lee Cattermole for a similar length of time.

“Craig’s injury is the most disappointing thing to come out of the last couple of weeks,” said Bruce, who still feels Darren Bent deserves another crack at the England team despite drawing a disappointing blank against Brazil at the weekend.

“It looks as if it’s going to be three months. We’ve not had much luck in that respect – that’s two serious injuries in a month.”