Medical expert predicts Spurs star may need surgery if there is ACL damage

Ben Dinnery, who has a background in medicine and runs the Premier Injuries site, has claimed that Matt Doherty may have suffered secondary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage.

Doherty seemed to have turned a corner over recent months, showing the kind of form that made him such a potent attacking threat during his time at Wolves.

However, the 30-year-old limped off after a full-blooded tackle from Matty Cash in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa last Saturday.

The Republic of Ireland international reportedly suffered a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season (Sky Sports).

Antonio Conte revealed in his press conference on Thursday that, as things stand, Doherty’s injury does not require surgery but the Spurs boss added that the club might seek a second medical opinion on the matter (Football.London).

Dinnery has predicted the Tottenham man might need surgery if there is secondary damage to the ACL.

He told Football Insider regarding Doherty’s injury: “The timelines that are being bandied around are pretty much on the money.

“Most of the data says around nine weeks for this sort of injury. Doherty will be heading to see a specialist too.

“As it stands, there is no decision on how the injury will be managed. They do have good outcomes with non-surgical management of these issues.

“He will go from it being immobilised and then to partial weight-bearing so he can progress through his recovery in that scenario.

“If surgery is to be considered, there will be a few influencing factors. If there is, say, secondary damage to the ACL or instability around that joint.

“There is a strong possibility that they will be able to treat it non-surgically, however. It certainly ends his domestic campaign and maybe those Nations League games as well.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I do believe that Doherty has shown enough over the last two or three months to convince Conte that he still has a future at Spurs. Emerson now knows that he has to take his opportunity in the final run-in if he is to save his Tottenham career.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know