Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Campo set for spell on sidelines

Bolton midfielder Ivan Campo has been ruled out up to two months after sustaining a fracture in his foot. The former Real Madrid man has played a vital role in The Trotters' fine start to the season after scoring in both his Premiership appearances so far. However Sam Allardyce will now be denied his services after the 31-year-old fractured a metatarsal during a training session and X-rays have revealed he may be absent for an extended period.


"He could be out for six to eight weeks," Allardyce told the club's official website. "He ran into a tackle in training, got caught and broke his foot, and that's something we could have done without at this stage." With men like Kevin Nolan and Gary Speed, as well as new midfield recruits Hidetoshi Nakata and Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Allardyce has the depth of squad at his disposal to cope with the loss of the player who moved to The Reebok Stadium in 2003.

This is a big blow for Bolton because Campo has been a big part of the side ever since he joined in 2003. He helped the club achieve European qualification last year, the first time they have ever done that. This is a big blow but lucky for Big Sam because he has brought in some decent midfield players over the summer that may fill in for him.