Soccer: Giovanni Trapattoni may have to plan without Shane Long for the Euro 2012 play-offs against Estonia next month after the striker sustained a "serious" knee injury in West Brom's 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
Long limped from the pitch after just 16 minutes following what Baggies manager Roy Hodgson described as an “appalling tackle” from Villa full-back Alan Hutton.
"It will be very interesting to see what the experts think but I thought it was an appalling tackle," Hodgson said afterwards. "Shane's lucky not to have two broken legs. He has a serious knee injury I would think."
The injury could well mean Long will miss the crucial two-legged play-off scheduled for November 11th and 15th.
With Robbie Keane yet to be passed fit for the games, it could leave Trapattoni short of options when he needs them most, though the Italian did leave Long on the bench in the final Group B game against Armenia earlier this month.
His West Brom team-mate Simon Cox started the 2-1 win, while Stoke’s Jonathan Walters was preferred off the bench by Trapattoni.
