Monday Aug 06 2007 09:18
Charlton Athletic midfielder Matt Holland will miss the start of the new season due to a knee injury.
Holland requires surgery on a cartilage problem, but Valley boss Alan Pardew has been boosted by the news that Jerome Thomas and Jonathan Fortune have decided to stay put - despite the latter having been poised to join Stoke City.
Pardew told the club's official website: "There's good news that Jerome Thomas has committed himself for the year, Andy Reid has too and Jon Fortune has told me that he wants to stay.
"Jerome knows that he needs a good year. He understands me as a manager and I understand him as a player, which is important.
"We had a chat this week and I'm very pleased he wants to stay."
Of Holland's setback, Pardew added: "We've made a couple of enquiries regarding a central midfield player, but I haven't got anything concrete at the moment.
"We've lost Matty for six weeks. It looks like he will have to have a cartilage operation, so that's a blow to us."
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