ANDY LITTLE faces several weeks on the sidelines after being taken to hospital with a suspected broken cheekbone sustained during tonight’s clash with Dunfermline. The striker was hurt in the first half of the 3-1 win over the Pars after colliding with an away defender as he headed the ball goalwards and had his shot saved by keeper Ryan Scully. Little received treatment for several minutes on the park from club doctor Paul Jackson before he was carried off on a stretcher sporting a neck brace. The Northern Ireland international was then taken to hospital, with manager Ally McCoist going to visit him once he left Ibrox. Little’s exact diagnoses has yet to be determined but it seems he’s set for a substantial lay-off just after he had returned to the starting XI following a spell as a substitute. McCoist said: “I don’t even know how serious it is yet but I’m pretty sure Andy has taken a really sore one. “I spoke to the doctor briefly and had a look at Andy as he was coming off and it didn’t look good for him. “The doc gave me his valued opinion and it looks as though he has fractured a cheekbone, though I’m not sure if it’s compressed or depressed. “I don’t know which one it is but it certainly looks as though he has taken a real whack. He was dazed when he came off and there was a lot of swelling. “It’s still very early and I don’t know the situation with how the x-ray went at the hospital. I am going to head there now and hopefully he can make a speedy recovery.” Little wasn’t the only one hurt on a difficult night for Gers, with skipper Lee McCulloch also receiving a head knock in the first few minutes. He was taken out by Jordan Moore’s elbow and had to go off for around 10 minutes before being able to play on and get the opening goal. Richard Foster also has a severely swollen ankle following a rash challenge on him from Callum Morris. The Light Blues will need to wait for that to settle before they can determine how long the full-back is out for but he also seems set to miss a number of games. McCoist added: “Quite frankly, I thought someone should have been joining Richard on the way off and not through injury. “The tackle came from nowhere and it looks a really sore one too. It looks as though he has twisted it on the way down. “I was hoping it was just a bang but he said he twisted it too and he’s on crutches in the dressing room.” /scott
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 22:41:42 +0000