ALAN SMITH - QUOTES

Last updated : 19 February 2006 By Ed

Smith's agent Alex Black:

"Alan's mum went with him to the hospital.

"Certainly, from speaking to Alan, that's not been indicated to him at all (the injury being career threatening).

"He is a pretty tough character and is already talking about it. It is frustrating, but he will try and get back to fitness as soon as he can.

"The latest situation is that everything went fairly well last night and they were able to put the ankle back in.

"They had the chance to X-ray and have a look at the break on the leg, which is being operated on this morning.

"It's hard to tell exactly how bad the damage will be to the ligaments on the ankle until it has all calmed down.

"The two injuries in themselves certainly aren't career threatening, but a combination of the two is a problem for the rehabilitation.

"He will be in a pot for six-to-eight weeks and won't be able to do a lot on rehab until after that when he will be starting on the road to recovery, hopefully.

"It looks like when he was landing, and put all the weight on his ankle, that's when the dislocation happened, and the force of that broke his leg. That's what I think happened.

"Even though he was a little bit delirious as he was coming off, he was able to recognise that not just Man United fans, but a lot of Liverpool fans, were giving him a round of applause.

"All the staff and various doctors have been fantastic and he wanted to say thank you to all those people."


Consultant physiologist Dr Alice Sykes:

"It could take six months for the bones to be healed well enough that he can begin even gentle exercise, starting on the bike and building up slowly to walking and eventually running.

"Obviously the dislocated ankle won't help, because it will limit his movements and that will cause the muscles to deteriorate.

"Because he fell in such a strange way, he'll also have damaged his ligaments and they can take a long time to recover too. I'd say he won't be playing again for at least a year."

Fergie:

"It is the worst injury I have ever seen and all the players are very upset.

"You could tell from the reaction of Gary Neville and Edwin van der Sar that it was very serious.

"It reminded me of that awful incident a few years ago when Coventry's David Busst broke his leg.

"And it certainly puts the game into perspective, that's for sure.

"It is really bad and Alan has gone straight to hospital. He's broken his leg and dislocated his ankle.

"But he's a brave lad and we're all behind him."


Neville:

"All our thoughts are with Alan. It’s been a very bad day all round."


Van der Sar:

"It was a horrible sight."


Benitez:

"We are all so sorry for Smith, it is a great pity such things happen and we all wish him good luck.

"As a manager you do not want to see any player hurt. But sadly this is football and I can only offer my concern and just enjoy the victory with my team and our fans."