Cardiff City lose Michael Chopra for 10 weeks
Cardiff City have been rocked by the news that they have lost Michael Chopra for at least 10 weeks due to injury.
The striker, who has been in strong form after scoring two goals in four games so far this season, injured his ankle in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Doncaster Rovers at home in a Football League Championship clash. Chopra, a former England Under-21 international, was forced out of the game after 30 minutes following a heavy tackle from the opposing side’s Wayne Thomas.
Ruptured ankle ligmaments
After undergoing a scan, it has been revealed that the 26-year-old Chopra has ruptured ligaments in his ankle.
Cardiff manager Dave Jones told reporters that: "When the swelling goes down, we'll reassess it and see what needs to be done. Hopefully we'll just leave it and it will heal naturally itself. If not, [the medical team] will pin it and that will add two or three weeks to the recovery period. But we're shooting a little bit in the dark until the 10 days are up and the specialist sees him. But we're looking at a minimum of eight to 10 weeks certainly."
Defenders also hit by injury
The big win over Doncaster came at a heavy cost for the Bluebirds as they also saw defenders Kevin McNaughton and Darcy Blake pick up injuries.
Full-back McNaughton, who has been with Cardiff since 2006, limped off after 18 minutes when he suffered a hamstring strain and he was replaced by the debuting Lee Naylor. Scotland cap McNaughton will miss out on the league clash away to Portsmouth on Saturday, but Jones is hoping to have him available after the international break.
Meanwhile, Wales Under-21 international Blake "rolled his ankle" in the warm up according to Jones, and he was replaced by teenager Adam Matthews in the starting line-up.
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