Freddy Eastwood’s bid to re-ignite his Wolves career has suffered a setback after he had an operation to repair a broken bone in his hand.
The £1.5m summer capture was one of the leading candidates to replace the cup-tied Sylvan Ebanks-Blake for the fourth round Cup clash at Vicarage Road tomorrow but he now faces an uphill battle to be fit.
Eastwood has a cast on his right hand after the operation and boss Mick McCarthy will ask the referee Keith Stroud for permission to play him.
McCarthy admits losing Eastwood is a blow but in a major boost for Wolves much-missed winger Michael Kightly is a surprise candidate for a substitutes role tomorrow – and Gary Breen may also figure.
“Freddy was a little bit disappointed when he walked in yesterday with a cast on his hand yesterday – we’ll just have to see whether there is a chance of him playing with it.
“He had to have an operation to repair the bone so we do have to be careful. For safety’s sake we don’t want him landing on the bone so we’ll just have to see.”
Kightly’s return would be a huge plus for the Wolves boss and his excellent progress from an ankle injury this week may be rewarded with a place on the bench.
“He’s been training with us with no problem which is great news. As for whether he’s involved tomorrow, we’ll see. We might get a bit out of him but only if he’s definitely OK because we don’t want to rush him.
“We’ve got three games coming up in a week as well, so maybe we’ll have to take that into consideration too.”
Stephen Ward looks set to miss out with a knee injury while Jody Craddock is definitely out. But Darron Gibson is fit and he is in line to replace the cup-tied David Edwards.
Meanwhile, McCarthy today rubbished morning reports of £2.5m bid for Karl Henry from Premiership Reading.
“There is absolutely no truth in that whatsoever. I think I know what kind of bloke Steve (Morgan) is and he’d pick the phone up and tell me if there had been any kind of bid for one of my players.”
Pick up today’s Express & Star for a full Watford preview and the inside story on Wolves’ striking options
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39 Comments
Come on South Bank - isn’t it about time you blamed Mick McCarthy for Freddy’s broken hand?
I sww there is no mention of how it came to be broken, does that mean we have to draw our own conclusions as to the reason??
how did he break it? late night pub brawl?
Greg…..that’s just about the most pathetic comment posted in ages
1
That’s about right mate.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the game is called Football & not played with the hand.
Players play with all sorts of various protection, so is MM going to use this as an excuse not to play Freddy in place of the cup-tied S.E.B?
Regarding the Eastwood injury has anyone seen MM lately,hope hes not sporting a black eye that would really get tongues wagging.
I can see it now…. Wolves are 1 down with 25 minutes to go. MM turns to Kightly and puts him on.
Kightly scores the equaliser but at the same time damages his weak ankle again - putting him out of the next 4 league games.
MM says it was worth it to get a draw in the cup - but says only rest can heal this type of injury.
Wolves lose replay 0-2 without Kightly and MM says he never heard ANY boos at all….
Greg Cooper - Grow up!
6.
You regularly leave interesting comments, but you dissapoint me this time. Using any old excuse to have a cheap dig at MM. It clearly states he will check with the ref to see if he’s okay to play
1.
Although he’s not a South Banker (I am btw) he has done what you said, not blaming him for the break, but twisting the story to criticise.
Happy_Baggie
See you’re in one of your silly moods today, suppose it is Friday.
3… Rumour has it, his wallet fell on it causing the break!!! lol
Happy, I have just read your post remembering the Baggies in Europe. How old are you?
Nice to see you’re still around Happy !! Nice funny little scenario you set out there but you know…… it has a strange ring of truth about it !!! I hope it doesn’t happen - if Kites needs the rest then let him have it.
Apparently freddy fell in training and Graham Stack fell on top off him
I didn’t think a cast could disallow a player from being on the field! What do the rules state?
15
Freddy wouldn’t be that close to goal and he wouldn’t be moving enough to fall over.
Interesting. HB, may i ask how old you are. You have placed comments on the football pages all morning. I don’t want to be offensive and cause friction as like u say its all banter and sometimes you do post realistic honest comments. It just seems like either your unemployed or got half day in education. Enlighten me. I want to know what sort of buzz you get from posting on this site from like 10 in the morning til now.
It doesn’t matter, MM will clone either Stephen Elliot or Stephan Ward and get either one to play a double role, mind you he might see Gary Breen fit to filling that role up front
1. Greg, How pathetic are you….so us lot in the south bank are to blame for everything. Do you sit in the north bank by any chance?
Stack fell on him in training and damaged his hand from there.
Hope he plays, be good to see him get a good run out.
Maybe Craddock lost his balance in his new high heeled kinky boots and fell on him.
13 & 18… yes I’m old enough to remember our days in Europe…
If you must know I’m 44, and I’m fully and happily employed in a job where I get time to post on here quite regularly. It pays well and dosen’t involve either hair nets or name badges (to quote from Waynes World)
As for a “buzz” - I wouldn’t go that far, but i do enjoy swapping banter with fellow footy fans - and even having an argument with certain posters…
P.s - I’m an Aries on the cusp of Taurus.
It looks like we have bid Kommons at Forest…….
C’mon E&S print that instead of more Freddy rubbish………
Happy, that’s almost a load of bull!!
Malvern - true, but it DOES make me a ram..
(oh no, Derby County… aghhhh )
I wonder what sign MM is - I’m guess “Pick your own strawberries”
Do you think your Physio’s will suddenly discover Freddy now has one arm longer than the other? And in a bid to compensate they have specially designed gloves made with an extension fitted , thus restoring Freddy’s natural balance which in turn leads to him finding the back of the net at last Providing MM lets him play of course
Re 20 - I’m actually Steve Bull Upper mate. It looks like some of you took my joke a little bit too personally so I promise not to have any more fun at your expense again, particularly as you are so sensitive at this time
I seem to remember Gary Lineker playing in the World Cup with a cast on his hand. Let’s hope for a ref with sense. (Is that an oxymoron?)
Well known for their sensitivity on the South Bank!
HOPE HE CAN BREAK THE BACK OF THE NET……..
JAMIE
mick wont play freddy when he is fit hardly play him when hes not.
seem to remember when they tied Greaves’s boot laces together still scored 4
A Guy using the name “Spiritualwolf” wrote, “I know it’s a bit of a hot potatoe, but this idea about whether Freddy’s been given a chance has been really bugging me, so I’ve done a little analysis of ALL his performances and chances so far this season. Here they are:
Bradford (Carling Cup): 90 mins, 1 goal
Sheffield Wed: 88 mins, 1 goal
Blackpool: 90 mins, 2 goals
Morecambe (Carling Cup): 90 mins, 0 goals
Stoke: 85 mins, 0 goals
Sheff Utd: 2 mins, 0 goals (SUB - rested after his international exhaustion)
Hull: 90 mins, 0 goals (straight back in)
(missed next few games – after being dropped for being appalling, but we weren’t bad in his absense)
Leicester: 23 mins, 0 goals (SUB)
Coventry: 45 mins, 0 goals (SUB)
(dropped and missed Charlton after playing poorly – and we won)
Cardiff: 39 mins, 0 goals (SUB)
Ipswich: 45 mins, 0 goals (STARTED – we were appalling)
Bristol City: 6 mins, 0 goals (drawn)
Southampton: 90 mins, 0 goals (drawn)
Barnsley: 90 mins, 0 goals (won)
WBA: 29 mins, 0 goals (drawn!) (SUB – we played 4-5-1, dropped for excellent tactical reasons, and immediately restated for the next game)
Colchester: 90mins, 0 goals (won)
Preston: 85 mins, 0 goals (won)
Barnsley: 23 mins, 0 goals (lost – dropped after playing poorly)
Burnley: 30 mins, 0 goals (lost)
(unused sub against QPR)
Leicester: 45 mins, 0 goals (drawn)
Hull: 69 mins, 0 goals (lost) (STARTED, then dropped)
(missed Norwich – we played much better and drew)
Sheffield Utd: 13 mins, 0 goals (drawn)
Cambridge Utd: 45 mins, 0 goals (SUB)
Crystal Palace: 37 mins, 0 goals (SUB)
(missed Scunthorpe – which we won)
So:
0-15 minute cameos: 3 appearances, total 8 mins 0.6%
25-30 minute chances: 4 appearances, total 105 mins 7.9%
35-45 minute half games: 6 appearances, total 256 mins 19.3%
65+ minute whole games: 11 appearances, total 957 mins (i.e. 72.2%)
So, the cameos take up less than 1%, the ‘half-hour chasing the game’ less than 10% - and the full scale games more than 70% of his time.
He has only been dropped after very poor performances (both games against Hull, the Coventry game) and for the WBA game, where we shifted tactically to a 4-5-1, and after that game he was immediately reinstated in the starting line-up for the Colchester game.
So, who’s telling the truth? Please, people, don’t be blinded by what you THINK is going on, instead look at the facts. I know they’re annoying, but they’re the facts…. He hasn’t been used for little cameos much, he hasn’t been dropped ‘unfairly’ even once, and he’s been given a very good crack at it on many occassions.
I like Freddy, and I want him to succeed - but don’t think that he hasn’t because he hasn’t been given a good crack at it!”
Facts don’t lie, but I guess even this won’t phase the “Freddyhuggers.” (”Don’t confuse me with fact, I already know what I believe.”)
34 you need to get a life man
seems to me this is your life
Sad person
If we are offered £2.5 million for Karl Henry, hadn’t we ought to take it?
34. Breretonwolf …You must actually be ‘clipboard’? in disguise. Always wondered what you were writing.
Freddy’s not in the Irish Black Cat Club…so Mad Mick won’t let anyone pass too him…poor Freddy…all he needs is a fair chance.
…& now they’ve broke his hand.
Nice list by the way.
Simon
35- You need to learn to read mate. As I said, I just copied and pasted. Still you’re from Sandwell. You were probably out joyriding when you should have been learning to read.
27 Wizards.
Possibly caused by holding the reins in the same hand all the time?
Happy.
Don’t let these wet blankets put you off, I only come on this site to read your comments, especially the slightly surreal.
35 Pelsall Wolf.
If you’re offered £2.5 million for Karl Henry you should take it and buy Mayfair and Park Lane, then put a hotel on each.