Forster to miss rest of season with knee-injury

Fraser Forster will miss the rest of the season, and potentially the start of next term, after scans confirmed he had fractured a kneecap early in Saturday’s victory over Burnley.

The England goalkeeper, who has enjoyed a fine first full campaign in the Premier League following last summer’s arrival from Celtic, was taken from the field on a stretcher at St Mary’s having fallen awkwardly after colliding with the visitors’ Sam Vokes. Kelvin Davis came off the bench for the remainder of the game, which Southampton won 2-0.

The club’s manager, Ronald Koeman, had been braced for the worst immediately after the game, with the Southampton medical staff’s initial prognosis of Forster’s injury suggesting the player would be absent for a considerable length of time. Subsequent scans, undertaken once swelling around the joint had receded slightly, have confirmed the worst with the 27-year-old – an ever present to date in his club side’s league season – facing a lengthy rehabilitation.

The injury had prompted his withdrawal from the England squad – the regular No2, West Bromwich Albion’s Ben Foster, had already been ruled out for six months with knee ligament damage – with the Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Rob Green called up in Forster’s stead.

The veteran Green, who has earned only one of his 12 caps since his error handed Clint Dempsey an equaliser in the opening group game at the 2010 World Cup, would appear to be in line to retain his place in the squad for the summer’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland and the Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia.

“I was gutted for Ben and Fraser,” said Roy Hodgson’s first-choice, Joe Hart, who has also been joined in the current squad by Jack Butland from England Under-21s . “It’s really, really sad news. It has rocked us all as a goalkeeping group and rocked all the lads in the squad because they are great guys and they are having great season.

“But Greeny has come in and hopefully he can profit. He did brilliantly in the Championship last year. I remember watching him in the play-off final, when he was man of the match for me. QPR are in a bad position but he has been fantastic this season. Greeny is rock solid. His mentality is great. And he is a very good goalkeeper who has been playing at the top level for a long time. There are no surprises.”

Southampton are expected to release a statement later on Wednesday confirming the extent of the damage suffered by Forster, who cost £10m when leaving Parkhead last August.


By Dominic Fifield / Guardian