Bleak assessment as star faces three months out

Sep 21 2007 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

TRANMERE’S John Mullin faces the prospect of being kept out of action for the remainder of the year as his season of misfortunes with injuries continues.

The experienced midfielder, who is yet to figure in the new campaign, underwent surgery to shave down an ankle bone this week and expected to be sidelined for another four to six weeks.

But the operation revealed additional ligament damage which had to be repaired. Now doctors say Mullin may have to wait three months before he plays again.

Manager Ronnie Moore said: “John’s had a run of bad luck since he came back in the summer and to be fair he carried injuries through a lot of last season, when he had sciatica.

“The operation on the original ankle problem this week was successful but they also found damage to the ligaments. They had to reconstruct the ligaments.

“It could be three months before he is playing again, although (physiotherapist) Les Parry says it might be sooner.

“At least when John comes back, it will be like having a new player.”

Mullin, 32, the victim of a crunching tackle in a sharply competitive preseason game at Altrincham in July, was a first-team regular last season.

He played more than 40 senior games, most of them in a central midfield partnership with Paul McLaren.

So far this season, the slot alongside McLaren is being filled by Steve Jennings, whose busy, energetic performances have earned regular praise from Moore.

As Tranmere prepare for the weekend’s League One visit to Cheltenham, the pressure for midfield places in the side is coming from a new direction as summer signing Antony Kay looks for an alternative route into the starting line-up.

Kay is unable to claim a spot in his favourite centre-back role because Rovers have looked solid with Ian Goodison and Ben Chorley at the heart of the defence over the first six weeks of the season.

But the versatile 24-year-old made a big impact in a 20-minute appearance as a substitute in Jennings’ midfield role last Friday, heading Tranmere’s late winner in the 2-1 success over Luton.

Moore said: “The thing about Antony is he has a lot of strings to his blow. He can play central midfield, full-back or wide if he has to.

“It’s good when he comes into the side and proves the point by scoring a winning goal.

“There have been a few laughs between the players in training this week. Antony Kay is putting pressure on people in different positions now.”

Kay, a first-team regular in the Championship with Barnsley last season, had been knocking on the manager’s door in recent weeks to make his case about playing in the side.

Moore added: “Antony understand the situation.

“He was very unlucky not to be included in the side at the start of the season.

“Antony is not camped outside my door now.

“He understands the opportunity will come for him and he has to be ready for it. He has to keep himself fit and his mind really bright.”

Kay’s predicament backs up Moore’s conviction that the squad this season is stronger in breadth and depth of cover than last season.

Tranmere head for the West Country looking to build a return of four wins and one draw from the first six league games – a record that so far matches the flying start they made to last season.

Moore hopes that this time his team will be better able to ride out the difficult spells that inevitably lie ahead.

The manager said: “The new players have blended in nicely and we have a bit more strength and a bit more know-how in the squad.

“I don’t think there is any other team for us to be frightened of in this division. We want to play Championship football next season and I believe we have the staff here to do it and the players here willing to roll their sleeves up and battle for it.”

Moore kept several players with knocks out of training in the early part of the week and hopes all of them will be fit for action at Cheltenham.

He said: “There is no-one who really looks to me as if they are not going to play.”

The exceptions are Mullin and striker Calvin Zola, who may not be ready after aggravating a hamstring strain at Carlisle just under a fortnight ago.