Brayford: Three months out?
JOHN Brayford might not play until after Christmas after the extent of his hamstring injury was revealed.
The Burton Albion captain was pulled back by AFC Wimbledon’s Ayoub Assal within seconds of the start of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Plough Lane and fell awkwardly.
Now a scan has revealed two tears to the muscle and the injury is reckoned to be as serious as hamstring strains can be.
“It’s not good,” said manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
“He is going to see a specialist but it definitely looks like it’s going to be eight to 10 weeks and it may be three months.
“I said on Saturday that if John goes down and stays down, you know it’s serious.
“The muscle has not come off the bone but it’s as bad as it could get. The good things is that John is a quick healer.”
It is almost exactly a year since Brayford was last injured.
He hurt a quad muscle against Plymouth Argyle on October 10 last year but since returning against Shrewsbury Town a month after that, he had missed only one game, the 2-1 home defeat to Lincoln City a fortnight ago, through a one-match suspension.
Brayford has made 292 appearances for Burton in two spells which were separated by eight years since making his debut for the club as a teenager.