Iwelumo faces fitness battle

Wolves could be without striker Chris Iwelumo for up to three months, manager Mick McCarthy has revealed.

The Scotland international striker broke a metatarsal in last night's 1-0 win against Perth Glory in Australia as the club's tour got off to the worst possible start.

Iwelumo, who was playing his first game since injuring his medial knee ligaments against Birmingham on April 6, had the news confirmed after x-rays. "He's broken his metatarsal. I don't know whether it will be six, eight or 12 weeks, some heal quicker than others," said McCarthy.

"I'm hugely disappointed, for Chris more than anything. Chris has played all his career in the lower leagues and worked his socks off to get this opportunity of the Premier League and then he breaks his toe."

Iwelumo becomes the third Wolves player in 11 months to suffer a fracture to the foot after Jody Craddock last August and Michael Kightly in March.

Craddock took 15 weeks to regain full fitness after complications set in, while Kightly hasn't played yet as he is still easing his way back to full fitness. Iwelumo probably won't now be fit until October.

"It's hugely disappointing for me as well because I've lost a player for a number of weeks," added McCarthy.

McCarthy exonerated former Leeds midfielder Jacob Burns, whose clash with Iwelumo caused the injury. "It wasn't a physical game - it was an accidental clash," said the boss. "The game was fine - there was no badness in it at all."

Midfielder Dave Jones also missed the game after coming off early during training earlier in the day with tendonitis to the knee.

McCarthy gave debuts to new signings Kevin Doyle, Nenad Milijas, Marcus Hahnemann, Andrew Surman, Greg Halford and Ronald Zubar, with Surman catching the eye.

But he was far from happy with the performance as Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored the only goal in the second minute.

"We were hopeless. I hate pre-season," said McCarthy.