St Johnstone FC

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• Founded:1884
• Manager:Derek McInnes

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Saints lose skipper Rutkiewicz

11 Dec 2009 - 15:21:19

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St Johnstone are facing up to life without Kevin Rutkiewicz for up to three months after the club captain damaged knee ligaments during training.

The 29-year-old defender has only made a handful of appearances for Saints this term after damaging knee ligaments during a pre-season game.

Rutkiewicz has now suffered a recurrence of the blow after a freak training ground accident left him nursing a medial ligament injury.

"Kevin has injured the same knee as he hurt in the pre-season game at Cowdenbeath. There was nobody near him, he simply caught his studs in the turf and went down in pain," manager Derek McInnes told the club's official website.

"The initial thoughts were that he had torn the ligament completely which would have meant a four-month absence, but we've heard this morning that it is a only partial tear and so we are looking at two to three months.

"It's a huge blow for Kevin who will find it hard mentally to deal with this so soon after coming back from his previous injury, but we'll rally round him and I know he will work hard to get back.

"I'm gutted to be without my captain and a hugely influential player."