Lengthy absence for Edman
23 Mar 2008 - 13:59:28
Wigan Athletic manager Steve Bruce fears that Erik Edman will not play again until October after the Swedish defender suffered a ruptured ligament in Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
The former Spurs defender sustained the injury when he fell awkwardly on his leg after an aerial challenge with Jason Roberts.
Bruce said: "I think the Edman injury has affected us really badly as he's been rock solid since he came here and when he went off we lost that balance.
"It looks as though he's ruptured a cruciate ligament which will be diagnosed within 24 hours and he could be out until October."
On his side's display at Ewood Park, Bruce added: "For the standards we've set both individually and collectively we never got started.
"The afternoon was summed up in the first three minutes when Chris Kirkland got injured. I think all through the game you could see he wasn't 100 per cent. If he's 100 per cent fit he saves the first goal for a start instead of pushing it out.
"Everything went against us. We got a lifeline with the penalty, sticking that away, and I expected us to kick on.
"We didn't. We had all sorts of problems with their midfield players, particularly Bentley, and I thought Santa Cruz was fantastic up front for them."
