Titus Bramble's absence in yesterday's 5-0 thrashing at Manchester City was notable, and it's been revealed by manager Steve Bruce that the big man could miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
The injury is a recurrence of the knee injury which kept him out for several weeks earlier this season.
Steve Bruce told reporters "Bramble had an operation a few months ago and he has never felt quite comfortable." Which seems entirely plausible as he hasn't quite looked the same since returning, but I'll admit I felt this was down to the teams own bad form, as opposed to any injury.
Bramble was forced back into action earlier than expected against Blackpool at home over Christmas, and it looks like this has just caught up with him.
"He had a scan the other day and he could miss the rest of the season. We've been told he needs complete rest at the moment" Bruce continued.
The injury news got worse with Fraizer Campbell also suffering a set-back. The striker's season has been a complete write-off after injury, and it doesn't look too good for the former Manchester United man.
"Fraizer Campbell twisted his knee yesterday (Saturday) in training and he will have a scan" said Bruce, who had hoped to involve him over the weekend.
The extent of Campbell's injury remains unknown, but all injuries to players who are not completely recovered are never good news, as Steve Bruce remains hopeful that things aren't too bad adding "We are keeping our fingers crossed that it is not a recurrence of the knee injury that he had in August."
Michael Turner came through the game at Eastlands unscathed, and although a little rusty, not as bad as I'd expected, so that's a boost in Bramble's absence, however, we've just got to hope he and John Mensah, also always a whisker away from injury manage to get us through the next 7 games, as defensive options continue to dwindle.
As for Campbell, well we've been without him most the season, so we can continue to plan as normal on that front.
God knows what the hell we're doing in training that gets us so many injuries, I think they all should be on "complete rest" just to avoid any more bad news, as Titus Bramble, Craig Gordon and now Fraizer Campbell all sit out with knee injuries.