3:01pm Tuesday 7th October 2008
By Keith Fairbank
JACK Lydiate will become the second Pooler player in a month to go under the knife at Morriston Hospital tomorrow morning.
Head coach Gareth Lintern confirmed that Lydiate had suffered two breaks in his leg during Saturday’s trouncing at Aberavon.
Having stayed in the Swansea facility since the weekend, Lydiate is due to undergo an operation today.
Lintern said: “Jack Lydiate is out with what appears to be a leg broken in two places. We thought at first it was the ankle but there are at least two breaks in the leg bone.
“I haven’t looked at the video to see exactly what happened but Jack said some players came on top of him and his leg went from under him.
"He knew straight away that something serious had happened, as did our medical staff.
“He was taken straight to Morriston Hospital where he’s stayed since. He’s due to go in for an operation on Wednesday morning.”
Lintern continued: “I’m not a medical man and I don’t know how long he’s going to be out for, but the most important thing is the individual recovers fully.
"We’ll see how he’s doing on an ongoing basis.”
Lydiate’s injury follows a similar break endured by Nicky Blake at Neath on the opening day of the season - with Lintern quick to acknowledge Pontypool’s deepening medical crisis while also heaping praise on the hospital’s staff.
He added: “We’ve had quite a few injuries, and more than our fair share.
"We could do without them but there’s nothing you can do but get on with it.”
Lintern also refused to take any flack for fielding what some viewed as a weak XV.
Having made eight changes to the side which beat Swansea – and then watched that side lose 28-0, he insisted: “I’ve got to make sure I manage the squad.
“People come to Pontypool and they are all keen to show that they deserve their place. We have to give them that chance.
“Of course we hope they’ll take that chance, that’s what it’s all about.
"And the players we brought in didn’t perform the way we hoped.”
Nevertheless, he is neither promising nor denying more wholesale changes this week, adding: “We’ll have to see how training goes this week.”
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