Defender faces injury lay-off
Neal Ardley believes Will Nightingale is in the right place to come back a stronger player after it was confirmed that the young defender’s injury could keep him out for up to seven months.
on Thursday that the 20-year-old academy product (pictured) would be out for around eight weeks, but Nightingale’s knee injury is worse than anticipated.announcedIt was initially
“Will went in for surgery on Thursday evening and when the surgeon took a look at him the knee injury seemed to be a lot worse than the MRI scan had originally shown,” said Neal. “We initially thought we had a couple of options and the one we were looking to take would have kept him out for six to eight weeks. However, the tear was a lot wider than they thought and the first operation did not become an option.
“They have to take a more serious route, which was the possible longer term one. Unfortunately, it is going to be about seven months for Will to recover from that so it is probably his season done now.”
However, Neal added that he expects Will to have a bright future in the game once his recuperation is complete.
“Our heart goes out to Will because he has had a lot of bad luck,” Neal said. “We have all spoken to Will and rallied around him. He has a long road to recovery now, but we will be here for him. We feel that we have a super talent for the future. Will is 20 years of age and he was in the first-team so that shows the high regard he is held in here. He has a bright future ahead of him and we just need to get his body back strong again so that he can kick on again.”
All at AFC Wimbledon wish Will Nightingale well in his recuperation.