Saddlers suffer new Darren Byfield blow
Walsall today suffered a massive blow after skipper Darren Byfield was ruled out for another six weeks with cruciate ligament damage.
Crocked Walsall skipper Darren Byfield was today ruled out for up to six weeks after a scan revealed further damage to his knee – including his cruciate ligament.
The striker's injury is worse than first feared and manager Chris Hutchings confirmed this morning his skipper is unlikely to be fit before Christmas.
Byfield has been sidelined since mid-September and while the damage to his anterior cruciate ligament and the rest of the joint is not serious it will keep him out of the festive run-in.
Last week the Saddlers, who host Carlisle on Saturday, had originally hoped the captain would be back by the end of the month.
Hutchings said: "A scan revealed it was worse than first thought, it was a grade two injury rather than a grade one so he's got to do a lot of strengthening work as there's a bit of movement in his knee – and his ACL – and he will probably be another four to six weeks.
"We thought we'd got to the nitty-gritty but the scan didn't show up how badly he had done it at first. That sometimes happens, that's nobody's fault.
"We went down the route of seeing the specialist and now it's just the strengthening exercises he's got to do."
But Hutchings played down the damage to the 34-year-old's cruciate ligament and insisted every precaution was being taken.
"The specialist has said he doesn't need an operation so it's just a matter of strengthening and it's going to take time – these things do and there's no easy way round it for him or for us," he said.
"He's hyper-extended everything so there's a little bit of movement there and we've got to stabilise it, he's got a brace on to keep it steady.
"He was doing his straight line running but it was the twisting and turning, which is a big part of his game, causing the problem."
The Saddlers, though, have been boosted by the news Jon Macken, Clayton McDonald and Martin Devaney are all nearing fitness.
"Hopefully by the weekend, and we've got another couple of days, everyone will be near enough fit," Hutchings added.
Meanwhile, a youthful Walsall team lost 2-1 at Tipton Town in the Birmingham Senior Cup first round last night with Steve Jones the only senior player on show.
