Surgery sidelines Speed
Wednesday, January 1, 2003
Article summary
Newcastle United FC midfield player Gary Speed faces up to six weeks out after a hernia operation.
Article body
Injured on Sunday
Speed limped off not long after scoring Newcastle's opening goal in the 2-1 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday and underwent surgery on New Year's Eve.
'Gradually got worse'
The 33-year-old Welsh international said on Monday: "I have had a groin-hernia problem for the last four or five weeks but because I have only felt it in training and not in games, I have been able to play through it. But it has been gradually getting worse and when I felt a little tug yesterday it just went."
Viana also out
Hugo Viana's dislocated shoulder means Newcastle could be without their two main left-sided midfield players when the UEFA Champions League resumes on 18 February.
