Further injury blow for Delap

Southampton FC will be without Rory Delap for between four and six weeks after the midfield player tore the medial ligaments in his left knee.

Injury blow
The Irishman sustained the injury in Saturday's English FA Cup fifth-round game with Norwich City FC, limping out of the game after 28 minutes following a challenge with David Nielsen. A scan on the knee on Monday confirmed the injury, which is not expected to require surgery but will definitely rule Delap out of the quarter-final against Wolverhampton Wanderers FC next month.

'Bitterly disappointing'
The injury is a further blow to the player, who recently missed two-and-a-half weeks with a calf strain and only made his return in the Norwich game. Delap said: "It is bitterly disappointing. This is all I needed because it will rule me out of the cup match as well as some important league games and probably Ireland's [UEFA] EURO 2004™ qualifiers at the end of March." Ireland, without a point so far from two Group 10 qualifiers, face Georgia on 29 March and Albania on 2 April.

'Very unlucky'
"It was very unlucky really. He [Nielsen] caught me with a block tackle and we both connected with the ball at the same time," Delap continued. "He knocked the ball against me, which opened my knee out and there are two tears in the ligament." The 26-year-old midfield player said that he expects to miss the next six weeks, but added that he had been told by doctors that he might be able to return earlier if the injury heals sooner than anticipated.