WHILE HE will continue to hope against hope in the coming days, Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is already resigned to being without David Meyler for at least another six months after the midfielder’s latest serious injury setback.
The Irish youngster is believed to have suffered a recurrence of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during Sunderland’s win at Aston Villa on Wednesday night. Bruce expects scans to confirm another ACL injury and is “devastated” for the 21-year-old.
“We’ll keep our fingers crossed for David,” Bruce said yesterday. “He’s worked so hard to come back from his previous injury and this just doesn’t seem fair.”
It is indeed a cruel blow for the former Cork City midfielder, just seven games into his comeback from a potentially career-threatening injury sustained against Manchester United last year.
Meyler had been earning rave reviews at the Stadium of Light since returning in November but Bruce was left to question his own judgment after the player broke down unchallenged just before half-time at Villa Park.
Meyler was stretchered off the pitch in tears, leaving Bruce to wonder whether he had asked too much of the player too soon.
“It’s the same knee, the right knee that he damaged last time and I’m left asking myself should I not have played him,” Bruce admitted afterwards.
“He was magnificent on Saturday against Blackburn Rovers and with Lee Cattermole out for the month, David was the only one I could ask to come in and do that sort of job. But I ask myself if I asked too much of him and I hope not.”
The news also represents a considerable setback for Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni and leaves Meyler’s hopes of forcing his way into the reckoning for the remaining Euro 2012 qualifiers in tatters.
Meyler has yet to win his first Ireland cap at senior level but he had been called up to the Italian’s squad before suffering his first injury last April.
Given his recent performances, and he was one of just a handful of players commanding a regular first team berth in the English top flight, a place in Trapattoni’s squad for the forthcoming Nations Cup games appeared a foregone conclusion. Instead, he is faced with yet another knee operation before he sets out on the long, hard road to recovery.
