Hazell plays waiting game

REUBEN Hazell will be checked out by Athletic today amid fears that he may need a knee operation, writes MATTHEW CHAMBERS.

The 31-year-old, captain of the side this season in the absence of listed-for-loan Sean Gregan, hurt himself in a tackle in training on Friday morning.

Hazell didn’t recover in time to take to the field at Griffin Park, but the player himself believes he has sustained cartilage damage which would probably require surgery to correct.

“He tweaked his knee in training so we will have to look this week to see how he is,” said Athletic manager Paul Dickov.

Should Hazell’s fears be proved correct, it would leave Dickov with only young Rod McDonald as like-for-like cover for centre-back pair Jason Jarrett and Jean-Yves Mvoto should Gregan remain out of the equation. Joe Jacobson and Andy Holdsworth could also feasibly fill in.