Krong Angkor

Injury heartache goes on for Fulham's Johnson

LONDON (AFP) - Andy Johnson, Fulham's former England striker, will be out of action for at least three weeks with a knee injury that is threatening to rule him out for the rest of the season.

Johnson, who has made only 13 appearances in the current campaign as a result of a dislocated collarbone and a groin strain, is to have exploratory surgery to determine the gravity of the injury.

"If they find that the problem is as major as it could possibly be, then he would need an operation that would keep him out for the rest of the season," Fulham boss Roy Hodgson said, adding that the 28-year-old had been "shattered" by the latest setback.

"If we're lucky and the major operation is not needed, and it's something wrong with the cartilage, then he might be back earlier.

"At the moment we're talking three to four weeks, and the worst-case scenario is the rest of the season and him being fit to join us in pre-season."

Hodgson is already without Clint Dempsey and Zoltan Gera because of their knee injuries and he admitted he would not have let Diomansy Kamara go to Celtic on loan earlier this week if he had been aware of Johnson's latest problem.

"One of the reasons why we let Diomansy go was because we didn't think the problem with Andy was anywhere near as grave," Hodgson said.

"I was concerned that I would not be able to give Diomansy regular games, so when a club of Celtic's stature comes in for him, it is very difficult for me to say 'you have to stay'."

Hodgson added: "Andy is shattered. He's devastated. If it's as serious as it could turn out to be, it needs to be put right for the start of next season."

Fulham were due to face the Premier League's bottom side, Portsmouth, on Wednesday with the west London club aiming to end a run of five straight defeats.

"At the moment I can divorce performances from results, but if you keep losing you will get dragged down there and get into a relegation battle," Hodgson warned.

"I'm hoping that won't happen and in the not-too-distant future we will have a squad of players together who are more competitive than we currently are."