Christian Stitched Up

Christian Dailly is a major doubt for Saturday's home game with Cardiff City.

Christian went off injured in the second half of the FA cup tie against Fulham on Tuesday night, with Hayden Mullins then being joined by Anton Ferdinand in the centre of defence while Steve Lomas went to his right back slot.

Christian's loss was clearly a blow, and first team coach Peter Grant reveals:

"He has got 14 stitches in he centre of his forehead, and obviously being a centre back you have got to head the ball a lot.

"So it will probably be down to the doctor more than anything else and we will have to be careful with him - 14 stitches is a heck of a lot to get in the head when you are a centre half.

"Sometimes you get away with it if you are a dainty winger but not a big, ugly centre back!"

Christian's potential unavailability is compounded by the fact that Tomas Repka, who missed the Fulham game through illness, is also a doubt.

"You are hoping Christian is going to be available because you don't know how Tomas is going to be, and if they were both out it would leave us short with only Andy as a centre-back, really," says Peter.

"Hopefully Tomas will come in and do a little bit of light training tomorrow as he feels better today.

"We hope everyone is fit for selection so there is a headache of selecting the side."

Peter knows that Christian would do anything to play, stitches or no stitches, and adds:

"That is the type of spirit you want in your team, players that want to play whether they have got injuries or not.

"He is a great professional and wants to do well and play well every game.

"Like anyone else you always ask for more from him in games but you couldn't ask any more in training - he is a great trainer and just wants to do well all the time.

"Not everybody has the fantastic qualities he has of always wanting to be involved."