| A visit to a specialist last night saw worst fears realised with the news the knee he injured against Dundee United in January will require major surgery, ruling him out until at least the beginning of 2005.
That’s a huge setback for the Dark Blues, who have badly missed the 23-year-old in the two months he has been out already.
It is also bleak news for the national team, for whom Wilkie had been identified as a key figure in the looming World Cup qualifiers by manager Berti Vogts.
Today, though, Dens boss Jim Duffy’s main concern was for a player who is, understandably, devastated by this development.
“Lee is the kind of boy who hates to miss even a day of training, so to be facing this kind of lay-off is a nightmare for him and we really feel for him,” said Jim.
“This could not have come at a worse time. He has established himself as a top-class Premierleague player and has emerged as an important member of the international squad. For this to happen is hard for the boy to take.
“However, I have had a chat with him and told him he just has to accept what has happened and do everything he needs to come back strongly next year.”
Although Wilkie had been battling hard to regain his fitness before breaking down in training at the beginning of the week, Jim revealed that since he suffered the injury there had been fears his lay-off would have to be measured in months rather than weeks.
“The initial scan he had showed there was damage to his cruciate ligament and that was a concern. It was felt, though, that for Lee’s own good the injury should be given time to settle and see if he would recover without needing surgery.
“Sometimes people don’t have to have an op. because they can get by without a cruciate through building up the muscles around the knee. I think, though, with Lee being such a big guy that was not possible, so it has to be surgery.
“That means a recovery period of eight months — if it is less, then that will be good, but, as a rule, that is the minimum period and I do not expect he will be back this year.
“For us, it is another blow in a season of injuries, but, right now, we are thinking about Lee. We are making arrangements and, hopefully, he can go through the op. sometime next week.”
Wilkie is not the first Dark Blue to be sidelined by this type of injury. His manager’s career was badly interrupted by a similar problem in the 1980s and, more recently, team-mates Fabian Caballero and Zura Khizanishvili have required such surgery. The fact both made full recoveries will be grounds for some hope for the fans’ favourite.
On the subject of Caballero, English Nationwide League outfit Barnsley were deciding today — transfer deadline day down south — whether or not to offer him a contract.
The Argentinian has been on trial with the Yorkshire club this week. |
