MY ANKLE RANKLES BUT OP IS NO OPTION

CYRUS CHRISTIE is relieved to avoid surgery after the most difficult period of his career. The Derby man has missed three months of the season through injury – first his right ankle went in November, then his left when he was about to make a comeback. He said: “I trained the day before a game but the ankle just locked up. “I chipped the bones in my ankle and they ended up floating around in there, there’s some bone growth on top of the other bones. “It was quite tough, I was playing through games but waking up the next morning struggling. So I’ve been playing through that this season.” Christie had an injection last week after specialists told him they don’t want to operate because of arthritis risks. “I’ve managed it, got the swelling down, had the injection and hopefully that will do the job,” said the 24-year-old. “I just have to maintain it and it’s a tough one, but it’s part and parcel of the game.” On top of that, Christie has had to work with three club managers this season – Nigel Pearson and Steve Mcclaren (left) have gone, and Gary Rowett is in the Derby hot seat now. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, the managers changing again. “I’m used to it now at Derby, I have seen it plenty of times at Coventry too so you have to carry on and get on with it.”

Wales must win to keep alive ambitions of reaching the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. “It’s not must-win,” Gunter said. “That’s a saying in football I don’t particularly like, and I certainly don’t sign up to that one this Friday. “If we were to draw the game are we stopping the group? Is there no point in playing the rest of the games? “I’m not taking away from the fact it’s a big game, it’s going to be because we’re halfway through the group.” “We’re a couple of points off the teams in front of us. We’re good at preparing for the game and not focusing on anything else but ourselves.”