Wolves fear worst on Kevin Doyle
Wolves were today fearing the worst over Kevin Doyle with the star striker facing the rest of the season out.
Wolves were today fearing the worst over Kevin Doyle with the star striker facing the rest of the season out.
The £6.5million man undergoes scans today on the medial knee ligament damage that caused him to limp out of the Republic of Ireland's 2-1 Euro 2012 qualifying victory over Macedonia in Dublin after 17 minutes.
Doyle's injury to his left knee was caused by a bad tackle from behind by Nikolche Noveski and the initial prognosis from Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni wasn't good.
He said: "It's his medial knee ligament. I think he may be out for one or two months, so it's a very serious injury.
Wolves now face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the damage to Doyle's knee.
Chief executive Jez Moxey said: "We've been in contact with Kevin and his knee is hurting.
"He's the consummate professional and we're all concerned for him but we have to wait to see the extent of the damage, which we hope to know as soon as possible.
"Of course it would be a massive blow to lose him, but we've got two other high quality strikers in Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Steven Fletcher."
But Moxey insisted Matt Jarvis, who could make his England debut in the Wembley friendly against Ghana tomorrow night, would not be withdrawn because of a risk to injury.
If Wolves did pull Jarvis out, he couldn't play the next two club games under FA rules designed to stop teams withdrawing players from playing in friendlies.
Doyle, who has missed just five league games this season, looks to have sustained a similar injury to Karl Henry, which kept the captain out for eight weeks.
Although his chances of playing a part in Wolves' survival bid look slim, Trapattoni was confident that Doyle would be fit for Ireland's return game in Macedonia on June 4.
The Italian said: "I hope by May or June he can come back and we can have him for the match in Macedonia."
At least there was brighter news for Doyle's team-mate Kevin Foley, who took his solid club form onto the international stage in his first competitive start for Ireland.
Trapattoni said: "Players like Foley - players I have been questioned for selecting - played very well."
