Wrexham’s fairytale return to the Championship has been rocked by a gutting injury to hometown hero Danny Ward, who is set to go under the knife on Friday after dislocating his elbow in a sickening collision. The 32-year-old shot-stopper, who only rejoined the club this summer following his Leicester City exit, crashed to the turf during a bruising clash with Millwall at The Den. Although Wrexham went on to secure a gritty 2-0 win, Ward’s injury marred the victory.
Ward suffered a horrific elbow injurySurgery confirmed after Millwall collisionOkonkwo and Burton ready to step inFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The incident unfolded in stoppage time when Ward challenged for a high ball and landed awkwardly. He was knocked unconscious, leaving players and fans in stunned silence as medical staff rushed on.
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After some lengthy treatment, the 'keeper was stretchered off before being taken to the hospital. The seriousness of the injury became clear as boss Phil Parkinson admitted afterwards he was “fearing the worst.” Those fears were confirmed early this week.
WHAT PARKINSON SAID
Parkinson delivered the grim update, saying: “It is really bad news for us with Danny and, more importantly, for himself. It is a dislocated elbow but when you do a dislocation, you have ligament damage which needs rectifying. He faces an operation on Friday and he will obviously have a significant period of time out.
"I think the specialist has said we won't know until he has actually done the operation and put a timescale on that but obviously it is a serious injury and our thoughts are with Danny. It is part and parcel of football picking up injuries and he will come back at some point this season ready to play his part."
DID YOU KNOW?
Ward’s injury is doubly cruel given he had just been recalled to Craig Bellamy’s Wales squad for their crunch World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan. With Leeds United keeper Carl Darlow his main rival, Ward had been in line for a potential starting berth.
Parkinson admitted the timing could not have been worse: "Danny was all set to go away with Wales. I think the fact he had been playing (for Wrexham) has got him in a good place for getting back into the Welsh starting line-up. I don't know what Craig was thinking but it is so frustrating for us and for him. The goalkeeping department was a problem we didn't really need so late in the window."
