De Laet Worries & New Problems

Ahead of the game against Ipswich Town, Roberto Di Matteo said that summer signing Ritchie De Laet had picked up a ‘serious’ injury.

The player is set for more scans and a more fullsome assessment following his substitution in the second half of the midweek tie against Brentford, but there are potential worries that it could be his season over already and plenty are reporting to that effect with ligament damage already confirmed.

Reports in Belgium are reporting that he could be out for a full 12 months as he recovers, and not just the 9 months being talked about.

Speaking to the Official Site ahead of the game, Di Matteo explained that depending on the tests on his knee problem, he is likely set for surgery.

‘Ritchie has sustained a serious injury. We will have to make more assessments with him later today. But it looks right now like he will need surgery. We need to see what kind of damage he has on the knee. He will be out for a while.’

With Ross McCormack missing out against Ipswich as well following his half time substitution in the last game, Rudy Gestede also picked up a hamstring problem in training ahead of Ipswich and of course Nathan Baker went off half way through the first half as well so he needs to be assessed to see if he’ll be out for any period of time as well.