Bakke out for season
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Article summary
Norway midfield player Eirik Bakke has been ruled out for the 2004/05 season with cruciate ligament damage.
Article body
Beseiged by injury
Bakke sustained the injury after going down unchallenged during Leeds United AFC's pre-season friendly game against Swedish part-timers Piteå IF on Saturday. The 26-year-old has been besieged by injuries over the past two years and made just ten English Premiership appearances last season as Leeds were relegated.
'Massive blow'
"It's a massive blow for the club and a massive blow for Eirik Bakke," manager Kevin Blackwell said on the club website. "He had bad luck with injuries last season and he was hoping to have a major influence this time around but it's not to be."
Norway absentee
News of the injury comes just three weeks before Leeds' Championship campaign gets under way and means that Bakke will miss at least five matches of Norway's 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, which starts in Italy in September.