Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett has defended his club’s handling of on-loan winger Andre Green, as reported by The News.
The 20-year-old arrived on a season-long loan from Aston Villa in the summer but was forced to undergo a knee operation on Monday.
The England youth international now faces a month on the sidelines after a cyst was removed from the ACL in his right leg.
Green claimed in a tweet, which was swiftly deleted, that he has been struggling with the injury for most of the year but Jackett insists he was completely unaware:
“Obviously it has flared up, but there was no indication to us that this was going to be a problem through our medical.
“Cysts don’t generally show up on medicals, apart from very extensive MRI scans, and then you are reliant on the player and the club to tell you there may be a problem – which wasn’t the case. I was genuinely surprised when he said he’d spoken to the Aston Villa doctor and wanted the cyst removed.
“You are reliant on the player generally telling you of any potential problems and that wasn’t mentioned by him or his parent club in the context that it might be a problem to us going forward.”
The winger had reportedly attracted interest from Championship sides Bolton Wanderers and Norwich City during the summer but Pompey made a statement by bringing him to Fratton Park.
The club now face a month without Green, which Jackett admits is a blow, but the former Wolves boss has given Green his full backing:
“He has assessed it and felt that was what he needed to do, to remove it so he could go forward positively. We back the player 100 per cent and look forward him coming back into the group now, although it looks the best part of a month out.”
As a result of Green’s absence, Jackett was forced to shuffle the pack for the visit of Wycombe Wanderers yesterday.
