We would hate to upset you so early on a Saturday but reports today suggest Richard Dunne will not play again this season.
The Aston Villa and, more importantly, Republic of Ireland defender broke his collarbone in a recent game against old club Manchester City.
At the time it was reported that following an operation the big fella would be back in action in April, giving him plenty of time to play his way back to fitness in time for the Euros.
Now though it is reported today in the Irish Daily Star that Dunne will miss the remainder of Aston Villa’s season. The good news is that he is still expected to be fit to play in Poland, with almost a month between the end of Villa’s season and Ireland’s opener with Croatia on June 10.
Still, it is hardly ideal to have our best defender only play a warm-up or two in the four months leading up to a major championship.
On the bright side, it could be worse. You could be Alex McLeish, who now faces the prospect of trying to stop Villa slipping into relegation trouble without the Dubliner’s help.
And, of course, another delay like this would be disastrous for Ireland and Giovanni Trapattoni so rest up Richard. And get well soon.
