Source: Telegraph
Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard told he faces nine months out of game
Bullard, 30, has been told to prepare himself to miss the start of next season by Dr Richard Steadman after the Denver-based surgeon operated on his troublesome right knee.[LNB]It is the second time Bullard has turned to Steadman who saved his career after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury while playing for Fulham against Newcastle in September 2006, which ruled him out for almost one-and-a-half years.[LNB] Related ArticlesWoodgate claims points for Spurs[LNB]Hull's Bullard out for season[LNB]Bullard worth every penny, say Hull[LNB]Hull concern over Jimmy Bullard recovery time[LNB]Motherwell's life of Brian McLean deserves to have a happy ending[LNB]Man Utd midfielder Owen Hargreaves' career in safe hands with Dr Richard Steadman[LNB]"It was very successful procedure and approximately somewhere between six and nine months he'll return to playing and more likely it will be on the nine months side," Steadman said.[LNB]"His first injury was so severe it's not surprising he had the re-injury but this problem was significantly less severe. It's very promising and the rest of his knee looks good even though he had the severe injury in the past." [LNB]Steadman added: "It was surprising that he could come back from the previous injury but it seemed to me that he came back as good if not better than before and I think that with this injury he can come back well too.[LNB]"I would think that the chances of his knee having four-and-a-half years' worth of top flight football in it are very high.[LNB]"I felt the operation was very successful and considering the severity of the injury he had two or three years ago that he came back from and seems to have improved his performance after the last surgery I think that he has a good chance to do the same.[LNB]Bullard has played just 53 minutes for Hull since his club-record £5-million move from Fulham in January.[LNB]"It is very unlikely that he will have another re-injury," Steadman continued. "It's always possible because the knee isn't actually made for playing football. So you can always injure the other knee or re-injure this one but the chances are very small.[LNB]"Based on his last recovery and the amount of time that he put in and doing everything we asked him to do his chances of recovery are very high." Steadman, who saved Michael Owen's career following his knee injury at the 2006 World Cup, has promised to help Bullard on the comeback trail.[LNB]"He is doing a great job with his rehabilitation and he seems to be progressing very well at this time," Steadman added.[LNB]"The procedure was complicated by the fact that he had a very complicated injury in the past and had dislocated his knee. In the process of playing (for Hull) he had torn one of the ligaments we had fixed. The procedure was to replace that ligament.[LNB]"He had some slight cartilage damage and then had that tear in the ligament.[LNB]It's very promising because the rest of his knee was very good even though he had the severe injury in the past.[LNB]"He has had his trainer from the club here and he has learned all the rehabilitation techniques that we need to incorporate over the next few months.[LNB]"I will probably see him at some point after two or three months but we can have a dialogue with the trainer and make sure he is doing exactly what he should be doing." [LNB]
