Woodgate woe for Newcastle

England woe
Newcastle manager Sir Bobby Robson revealed the news after last night's 5-0 UEFA Cup first round first-leg victory against NAC Breda. It means the England defender will also miss the decisive UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying Group 7 tie against Turkey in Istanbul on 11 October.

Promising return
"We can forget about him for several weeks which is most definitely a blow to us," Sir Bobby said. "He played very well on Saturday [against Bolton Wanderers FC] when he eased his way back into the first team after not having played for a few weeks."

Operation needed
Sir Bobby added: "He is like a Rolls Royce in that he hadn't been playing in the first team but seemed OK when he returned to action. But in training yesterday he felt some pain in the lower regions of his stomach. Our physiotherapist examined him and we immediately sent him to Manchester to see a specialist who said he must have an operation this weekend."

Stomach problem
Woodgate, 23, joined Newcastle from Leeds in January for €13m but his career since has been blighted by injury. His stomach muscle problem also prevented him from being called into the last England squad for the EURO 2004™ qualifiers with F.Y.R. Macedonia and Liechtenstein.