No timeline on Sandal's recovery as Hatters midfielder had been ready to step up
Wilshere reveals January addition was likely to feature in League One side
Hatters boss Jack Wilshere didn’t want to put a timeline on just how long Sverre Sandal will be out for after the midfielder, who was closing in on getting his chance in League One this term, underwent surgery on a knee injury last week.
The 23-year-old, who joined from Norwegian side KFUM in January, didn’t get the chance to feature much last term, after suffering with injury issues when making the switch to England, but appeared to be over them when getting through pre-season without any concerns, playing in several of the warm-up matches. He then came on in the opening fixture, a 3-0 Carabao Cup success at Gillingham last month, and was in the match-day squad for the 4-3 win at Reading during Town’s first League One clash, although didn’t get off the bench at the Madejski Stadium.
He was then not involved against either Notts County or Chelsea, with Wilshere stating at Stamford Bridge he had suffered a knock in training, only for the club to announce on Monday, following the 5-2 hammering by the Stags, that the issue was more serious than initially expected, which meant the ex-Nordstrand youngster had needed to go under the knife.
Asked if he knew when he might be back, Wilshere, speaking in his pre-Leyton Orient press conference, said: “It’s difficult to put a timeline on it because I’ve seen those problems before and they all heal at a different rate. It’s a blow for him and a blow for us, as he was someone who was coming along really nicely. He was getting to a point in my opinion where he was ready to step into League One, ready to help us.
"He’s a different type of midfielder to what we had, could maybe do a role at centre back as well. He was getting really close to that and after the time he had last season, it was a difficult one for him to accept. That being said, that’s football, that’s life, that happens. He needs to bounce back from that. He’ll obviously have all the love and support from us that he needs, but to put a timeline on it, I wouldn’t be comfortable because let’s see, hopefully soon.”
Wilshere did have plenty of empathy for the midfielder though, having suffered with injury throughout his own playing career, adding: “I’ve been there as a player when you work really, really hard to get close to something, to get up the speed physically, but also there’s a lot that comes with moving country, mentally and technically as well, the demands of this league, to be able to do it at a different intensity, to accept all of that.
"It can take a little bit of time to get up to speed, to get there and then get knocked down again, that’s tough, so we have to support him. He’s the type of guy that’s really focused and really career driven. You can see he’s hungry to come back already, but we also need to support him with that.”