Simon set for knee op

Monday 28th July 2008, 11:49AM BST.

Wing-back Simon Forsdick will tomorrow become the third AFC Telford United player to go under a surgeon’s knife this summer.The left-sided ace has been booked in for a clean-up operation on his knee, having not been able to play any part in pre-season training so far.

The injury was originally thought to be related to his ligaments, but has now been diagnosed as a cartilage problem.

Boss Rob Smith hopes the former Hednesford man will only be out for two to three weeks, enabling him to return to training by the middle of August.

Defender Asa Charlton made his return from surgery on Saturday, playing the last 20 minutes of the 1-1 draw at Havant & Waterlooville.

But centre-back Jimmy Turner faces at least another eight weeks on the sidelines as he recovers from a blood infection he suffered after his own clean-up operation.

Meanwhile, Smith saw plenty of positives from his side on their trip to the Hampshire coast – with striker Terry Fearns having put the Bucks ahead only for Havant to equalise with a dubious late penalty.

“It was a moral victory for us really, because it was a joke decision at the end to give them a goal,” said Smith. “We played them off the park at times.

“Physically, we bullied them a little bit. It was a shame to get a couple of bookings, but we’re ramping up to competitive games now, so we didn’t want to go and play tip-tap football.”

By Chris Hudson