Championship - Southgate optimistic on Downing

Eurosport - Wed, 01 Jul 10:44:00 2009

Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing is hoping to be given permission to step up his recovery from foot surgery next week.

FOOTBALL Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing breaks his foot in a challenge with Aston Villa's Stiliyan Petrov that rules him out of England's World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra - 0

The 24-year-old England international underwent an operation on May 22 to repair the damage he suffered in a challenge with Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov in the penultimate game of last season.

Manager Gareth Southgate said: "We are very pleased with Stewart's progress. He underwent a serious foot operation, but he is determined to come back stronger and fitter as soon as he can."

He was told at the time that he would be out of action for between four and six months, a prognosis which severely diminished his chances of securing a move away from his hometown club in the wake of relegation from the Premier League.

However, Downing hopes to be able to take the next step in his rehabilitation programme after seeing a specialist next Tuesday.

Southgate said: "He is due to see a specialist in London on July 7 and we expect him to be given the go-ahead to step up his rehabilitation from there.

"So far, it's been as much about resting and allowing the foot to recover from the operation, but I know he will be keen to focus on some more serious rehab and make real strides towards getting fit."

PA Sport

Comment 1 - 3 of 3

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. Lamb is talking out his A R S E Boro are skint and­ thats no s h i t

    From GEOFF, on Mon 29 Jun 8:33PM

  2. good points but the contracts would be too complicated,­ after all whats the odds that we dont go straight back­ up, a player gets injured during his loan period and so­ on.
    players want premiership football if they're­ premiership quality, the pity is that only a handful of­ our current squad are and the chances are that­ they'll be off.

    From mortgageandmoneycentre, on Mon 29 Jun 4:31PM

  3. According to Keith Lamb, Boro don't have to sell to­ survive in the Championship and would prefer to keep­ the exisitng good players i.e. Tuncay, Downing,­ Aliadiere, O'Neil etc. So, why not loan them to­ Premier clubs for a season with an option to buy so­ offloading their Premiership sized wages off the books,­ and, the players continue to play in the top flight­ ready to return to Boro when they are promoted back­ into the EPL at the end of the season. That is of­ course that players are telling the truth when they say­ they don't WANT to leave Boro.

    From kht20, on Mon 29 Jun 3:30PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account