Given ruled out for six weeks

Newcastle United FC's Irish international goalkeeper Shay Given will miss important games for club and country after undergoing surgery on a bowel injury sustained in a collision with West Ham United FC striker Marlon Harewood.

'Small tear'
The 30-year-old was injured in Newcastle's 2-0 Premiership win at West Ham on Sunday in a challenge with Harewood. He was taken to hospital and operated on immediately. Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder said: "Shay has had surgery to repair a small tear in his lower stomach. He is comfortable but it is too early to be putting a date on when he will be back."

Six weeks out
The early prognosis is that Given will be sidelined for at least six weeks, ruling him out of the Republic of Ireland's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers against Cyprus and the Czech Republic on 7 and 11 October, as well as Newcastle's UEFA Cup first-round second leg against FK Ventspils. The English club won the first game 1-0 in Latvia. "He will be given all the time he needs to make a full recovery – the surgeon said he had never seen an injury like this through football," Roeder added.