Cresswell injury explained

CandH exclusive by Hughie Southon

David Moyes’ admission that he has no clue on when we can expect to see Aaron Cresswell back in the squad is a worry.

Having crashed into an upright in the match against Manchester City the left back has now been side lined for a month and is not expected to be back over Christmas.

And ClaretandHugh can now reveal that the source of the problem is chipped bone in his back which could taker several weeks to heal.

Most diagnosis are that it takes between six to 12 weeks but it’s impossible to put a strict time frame on such a problem.

We were told after Moyes had made his statement that the 32 year old had indeed chipped the bone and that his back remained “very sore.”

It means that with Vladi Coufal back from suspension for the match against Saints on Boxing Day he will fill the right back role and that a choice is left of playing Arthur Masuaku at left wing back again or restoring Ben Johnson to the role.