Horsman faces more surgery

7:55am Thursday 13th March 2008

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CHRIS Horsman's chances of pulling on a Worcester Warriors' jersey again this season are hanging in the balance after it was revealed he is facing more surgery.

Sixways director of rugby Mike Ruddock admitted the Welsh prop will be going under the knife to remove a bone spur from his ankle.

However, the Warriors' boss insisted it is not a recurrence of the same ankle injury that has blighted Horsman's Worcester career.

Ruddock expects the Welsh international to be sidelined for a couple of weeks by the procedure, but it remains to be seen whether he'll regain full match fitness before the end of the current Guinness Premiership campaign.

Ruddock said: "Chris is going to have to have a small op on his ankle unfortunately, so he's going to be out for a few weeks.

"It's not a massive problem, but an aggravating one that won't go away until he has the surgery. He has a bone spur on his heel that just needs to be cleaned up.

"It's a shame because he's worked so hard to get back to full fitness but, if it means he is free from all these niggles once and for all, he might still be able to feature before the end of the season.

"We were concerned it was a re-occurance of the injury he had before because he's had ankle reconstruction, but it's not the same injury - it's a fragment of chipped bone on one part of the heel."

The news is the latest setback for the front row man, who has been sidelined since October after rupturing a bicep early in the season which also needed surgery.

Meanwhile, Ruddock revealed he hopes prop Darren Morris will soon put pen to paper on a new contract.

The powerful forward, who has a 50-50 chance to be fit for Sunday's Premiership match with Leeds as he recovers from concussion, is said to have agreed financial terms with Worcester, but there are a few details to be ironed out.

However, Ruddock is confident his countryman will re-sign, despite interest from other clubs.

Ruddock said: "Darren's agent and I have been discussing one or two things he'd like in his contract, not financial issues but certain wording.

"Those talks are on-going, but we're pretty much there.

"There has been a lot of interest in him but he is enjoying it here and wants to stay.

"It's just about making sure he is comfortable with a few other details."