The West Bromwich Albion striker Shane Long, left, is a injury doubt for Ireland’s vital Euro 2012 play-off against Estonia. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images
Shane Long faces a race against time to be fit for the Republic of Ireland‘s Euro 2012 play-off matches against Estonia next month after a scan showed he has suffered severe bone bruising and a small bone chip, inside his right knee, as a result of Alan Hutton’s challenge at Villa Park on Saturday.
Although West Bromwich Albion put out a statement saying Long faces up to six weeks on the sidelines, it is understood that the player has refused to rule out the possibility of being back for the first leg against Estonia, in Tallinn, on 11 November. The second leg in Dublin takes place four days later and Long is determined to be involved.
With Robbie Keane struggling to recover from a thigh injury and Kevin Doyle suspended for the first match against Estonia, Long’s injury could not have come at a worse time for Giovanni Trapattoni, the Ireland manager. Jon Walters, the Stoke City striker, and Simon Cox, Long’s Albion team-mate, could be asked to form a makeshift partnership up front.
Long remains aggrieved that Phil Dowd, the referee at Villa Park on Saturday, failed to punish Hutton for what Roy Hodgson, the Albion manager, described as a “wicked challenge”. Dowd did not even award a free-kick and was also involved in a contentious decision later in the first half, when Villa’s Chris Herd was dismissed following an altercation with Jonas Olsson. The official is expected to be dropped from the Premier League match list this weekend.
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