Forssell faces six-week absence
Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce is resigned to being without the services of on-loan Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell for up to six weeks.
The Finnish international will today undergo an exploratory operation on his troublesome knee which is likely to keep him out of action until the start of November.
Forssell was a massive success for Blues in his first season with the club in 2003-2004, scoring 19 goals in all competitions and helping them obtain a top-10 Premiership finish.
But Bruce admitted that the knee has been an irritation to Forssell since pre-season training and now is keeping his fingers crossed that there is no long-term damage.
Birmingham are working in close liaison with Chelsea in monitoring the condition of the player who moved to St Andrews to obtain regular first-team football.
Bruce confirmed: “Mikael will go into hospital for an exploratory knee operation which will keep him out of action for four to six weeks – at least.
“We will know then if there is any more damage to his knee. They will be having a look inside his knee, washing it out and tidying it up.
“But the main thing is to go and have a look inside to make sure there is no real serious damage for Mikael.
“He has had a sore knee since pre-season really and we want to try and get to the bottom of it for his sake as much as anyone else.
“Chelsea want to further explore what is wrong. We are doing things in conjunction with Chelsea which is a perfectly normal thing to happen.
“The most important thing for everyone is the welfare of the player and that is where we are up to.”
