Moore's injury misery
03 Oct 2006 - 08:02:56
Aston Villa striker Luke Moore could have played his last game of the season after suffering a recurrence of a shoulder injury.
The 20-year-old was replaced by Milan Baros after only 40 minutes of Saturday's 1-1 draw against Chelsea and boss Martin O'Neill fears the worst.
"I don't want to pre-empt things but it looks as if he'll need an operation because this time he hasn't been able to put it back in again," the Villa manager told the club's official website.
"Sometimes he's been able to slot it back in, but he wasn't able to this time. If that's the case, it would be a severe blow to us because it will take months and months and months. I believe this could be a season-threatening injury.
"He didn't want to have the operation. He needs it tightening and he needs to get it strengthened because, if he doesn't, it's only going to cause him more problems.
"It's a problem I didn't even know about until pre-season when I saw him holding his shoulder in a game.
"Next thing I know, it's coming out and it's a real problem. It's a blow to us and to him. If he has to have the operation it would be a real shame because we've got a bit of momentum and we've got nothing to fall back on."
Moore has scored 11 goals in 32 starts and 42 substitute appearances for Villa.