Peter Crouch will miss the first leg of Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final and England's two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra after deciding to have surgery on his broken hooter today.
The 6ft 7in striker had considered delaying the operation because he wanted to be available for the important fixtures faced by club and country over the next month.
But in the end he felt he did not want to carry on playing while experiencing trouble with his breathing and agreed to keep his appointment with the specialist to repair the damage caused by an accidental kick in the face from Sheffield United's Rob Hulse in Liverpool's recent Premiership win at Anfield.
Apart from the broken hooter the 26-year-old also had 11 stitches in cuts.
"The thing is I know that because of the injury, my breathing isn't as it should be at the moment," Crouch said. "If it's affecting my performances then I know I'm going to have to get it over and done with.
"The doctor has said that after getting it done, I'll be out for three to four weeks. That would be really frustrating because at this stage of the season I really don't want to miss any games. Although in fairness I never get ****ing picked anyway, so I don't suppose anyone will ****ing notice."
But he'll definitely miss the two England games later this month against Israel in Tel Aviv and Andorra in Barcelona. He's also ruled out of Liverpool's next two Premiership fixtures against Aston Villa and Arsenal and the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Steve McClaren will be hoping that his other strikers stay fit as England desperately seek to recover from a series of disappointments earlier in the season.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has to accept that one of his options has been taken away for up to a month as he looks for his front men to start firing again. Although his side progessed in the Champions League on away goals at the expense of Barcelona on Tuesday night for the second time in a few days they went down 1-0.
As on Saturday against Manchester United they created chance after chance but failed to take one.
The 6ft 7in striker had considered delaying the operation because he wanted to be available for the important fixtures faced by club and country over the next month.
But in the end he felt he did not want to carry on playing while experiencing trouble with his breathing and agreed to keep his appointment with the specialist to repair the damage caused by an accidental kick in the face from Sheffield United's Rob Hulse in Liverpool's recent Premiership win at Anfield.
Apart from the broken hooter the 26-year-old also had 11 stitches in cuts.
"The thing is I know that because of the injury, my breathing isn't as it should be at the moment," Crouch said. "If it's affecting my performances then I know I'm going to have to get it over and done with.
"The doctor has said that after getting it done, I'll be out for three to four weeks. That would be really frustrating because at this stage of the season I really don't want to miss any games. Although in fairness I never get ****ing picked anyway, so I don't suppose anyone will ****ing notice."
But he'll definitely miss the two England games later this month against Israel in Tel Aviv and Andorra in Barcelona. He's also ruled out of Liverpool's next two Premiership fixtures against Aston Villa and Arsenal and the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Steve McClaren will be hoping that his other strikers stay fit as England desperately seek to recover from a series of disappointments earlier in the season.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has to accept that one of his options has been taken away for up to a month as he looks for his front men to start firing again. Although his side progessed in the Champions League on away goals at the expense of Barcelona on Tuesday night for the second time in a few days they went down 1-0.
As on Saturday against Manchester United they created chance after chance but failed to take one.
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