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Defender
Blow
13th March 2006
As The
Forgotten Imp
speculated on Saturday following Lincoln's 2-2 draw with Rushden and
Diamonds, there is some disappointing injury news.
Both Gareth McAuley and Franny Green were forced to
abandon their game prematurely during Saturday's match.
Although there is no word on Green's injury, it would
appear that McAuley will miss several weeks.
Early diagnoses indicates a hernia problem, which could
mean that McAuley misses at least the next four weeks.
McAuley will see a specialist on Wednesday for further
assessment of his injury.
The loss of McAuley would be a huge blow for Lincoln. The
Northern Ireland international is so highly-rated that
Premiership club Sunderland have scouted him in recent
weeks. Sunderland were added to the seven other clubs of
Cardiff City, Crewe Alexandra, Doncaster Rovers,
Huddersfield Town, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and
Stoke City, who have all shown varying degrees of
interest in McAuley.
On the positive side, Lincoln do have cover for McAuley.
One obvious replacement is Paul Morgan, but he remains
several weeks away from a return to match fitness
following a broken foot that was sustained in November.
The likeliest short-term replacement for McAuley would be
utility player Nat Brown, who took over McAuley's central
defender role during the Rushden match. Brown normally
plays in midfield, so this would free a midfield berth
for possibly Lee Frecklington to obtain a run in The
Imps' first team.
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