Smith out for season - Injury updates on Carroll and Gosling.

The little yellow bar floating across the bottom of the screen on Sky Sports News it telling me that Alan Smith is likely to miss the rest of the season due to the injury he picked up against the filth last weekend.

Apparently Smith has damaged his ankle ligaments, which has been made worse by the fact that it is the same ankle which he broke and dislocated when he was playing for Manchester United a few years back.

Now I'm no fan of Alan Smith and feel that his top flight playing days could have been numbered, even before this latest injury, but in no way, shape or form would I like to see any of our players ruled out through an injury, certainly not an injury that is going to potentially keep a player out for anywhere around 4-5 months. This is what Alan Pardew had to say about it:

"It's sad news for Alan because it's an ankle he's had problems with and we think he'll probably be out for the rest of the season.

"Because he's had a dislocation and a break on that ankle before, when you get a heavy blow like he did it's a very low recovery rate."

In a worst case scenario, it could even be the end of his career I guess. Another severe blow on top of the injury sustained to that same area could be enough to restrict his ability still further and hamoer any recover, especially as Smith isn't getting any younger. I hope it doesn't go that far, but it could be a possibility.

Interstingly, Sky Sports News have also suggested that Andy Carroll will be out for a further two to three weeks, which would rule him out until at least the visit of Arsenal on February 5th. To be fair, it will only be two games that he will miss as the Premier League takes a break for the FA Cup 4th round to be played.

There is also a suggestion that Dan Gosling has suffered an injury setback as he closes in on a return to first team football. As yet this is unconfirmed, so we'll have to wait and see what happens, but if it is true it is a cruel blow for a player who has done fantastically well to battle back from a career threatening injury.

Any injuries leave us thin on the ground, So I would hope that Sky are just getting a bit over zealous in their reporting. If you hear anything then let us know, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open in the meantime.