Fulham Football Club News

• Nickname:Cottagers
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Martin Jol

• Ground:Craven Cottage
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Hodgson voices Paintsil fears

31 Dec 2009 - 15:59:50

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Fulham right-back John Paintsil could be sidelined for the rest of the season by a knee injury sustained in the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Cottagers are waiting on the verdict on a scan to the 28-year-old Ghana international's injury, but manager Roy Hodgson is not upbeat about the likely prognosis.

He commented: "We won't know how long John will be out for until Saturday when our specialist returns.

"We want him to have a look at John before we make any decisions. The scan shows there is damage to the posterior cruciate ligament.

"We're talking about a period of rehabilitation of eight to 12 weeks, whatever happens.

"It could be that the damage is sufficiently bad that he might require an operation. If that's the case he'll be out for another four to six weeks.

"It's really bad news for us and for John as well because he was voted Ghana player of year and has been playing very well. Now he's looking ahead to a long period of rehabilitation."