Knee agony for Holmes

From the Echo, first published Friday 17th Oct 2003.

LUCKLESS Cherries star Derek Holmes today admitted he was "gutted" to discover he will be sidelined for at least six weeks due to a knee injury.

Holmes was rocked by news that he had torn a cartilage pad in his right knee when he fell awkwardly during Cherries' LDV Vans Trophy defeat at Yeovil in midweek.

The Scotsman, who is due to celebrate his 25th birthday tomorrow, was given the grim prognosis after having an MRI scan at Poole Hospital on Wednesday night.

And he will go under the knife of consultant orthopaedic surgeon Adrian Harvey to have the damage repaired at the Nuffield Hospital in Bournemouth on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, Holmes said: "I can't believe it. There is never a good time to get injured, but this couldn't have come at a worse time for me. "I felt I had been playing quite well and had just forced my way back into the side, but now I will have to go back to square one again once I am fit and over the injury.

"I just went up for a header with their big lad (Hugo Rodrigues) and felt something pop in my knee as I landed. I tried to run it off, but it didn't ease so I had to go off.

"Fortunately, I'm a quick healer so hopefully I will be back sooner rather than later, but this is not something you can rush. If you try to come back too soon, you can make it worse and I don't want to risk doing any long-term damage."

His injury has resulted in Cherries paying a heavy price for their defeat at Yeovil as Marcus Browning also collected a fifth yellow card of the season and will be suspended for the trip to Tranmere a fortnight tomorrow.

Holmes added: "In hindsight, it's easy to say it was a game we could have done without, but I could have got injured in any game. It was just one of those nights when nothing went right for us.

"We didn't perform and were beaten by the better team on the night. It's disappointing because we did well in the LDV last season, but no disrespect to the competition, the league is much more important.

"Saying that though, we don't take any games lightly and Sean, Peter and all the players want to win every game as much as the next person. It's our livelihood and you would only be cheating yourself if you didn't want to win every game."

Holmes initially feared his operation may have to take place tomorrow, but was relieved to discover it had been scheduled for Monday. He will now enjoy a birthday dinner with his girlfriend Tracy, two friends who are driving down from his home in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, and some of his team-mates.

Cherries boss Sean O'Driscoll said: "It was doubly disappointing to lose the game at Yeovil and also to lose Derek who has been doing really well recently. His loss means our small squad is now even smaller.

"But that's football and life in general as well. You struggle at times and then after you've got your chance, something else comes out of the blue to knock you back. We've all been in that situation.

"Derek has handled everything else with maturity and this is another short-term situation for him to handle."

O'Driscoll has described thigh strain victim Shaun Maher as "touch-and-go" to face Division Two leaders Brighton at Dean Court tomorrow, while Warren Cummings sits out the third of his three-match ban against the Seagulls.

Cherries: (from) Moss, Young, C Fletcher, Broadhurst, Purches, Elliott, Browning, Hayter, O'Connor, S Fletcher, Feeney, Tindall, Maher, Thomas, Stock, Connell, Stewart.

Brighton: (from) Kuipers, Hinshelwood, Cullip, Butters, Mayo, Hart, Carpenter, Rehman, Jones, Knight, McPhee, Watson, Pethick, Piercy, Harding, Robinson, Flitney.

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