EXCITING Zimbabwe international footballer, Jordan Zemura, has been referred to a specialist physician to establish the full extent of the ankle injury he suffered last week.
Zemura was conspicuous by his absence in the Warriors squad, announced yesterday, for the remaining two World Cup qualifying matches, against South Africa and Ethiopia.
The 21-year-old AFC Bournemouth fullback has been in top form, for both club and country, in his breakthrough season, after graduating from the club’s development side.
Zemura missed action, for the first time this season, as AFC Bournemouth’s impressive unbeaten start in the English Championship, was halted by bogey side Preston North End, on Wednesday evening.
Cherries manager, Scott Parker, revealed the leftback was also set to miss tomorrow’s home clash with Swansea City.
“We’re not sure at the moment,” Parker told the Daily Echo in the United Kingdom.
“He’ll go to see a specialist next week and, probably, I’ll have a clearer idea on exactly what the full extent on the injury is at this moment.
“He won’t be available for the weekend so for time scales, I’ll probably be in a bit more of a clearer position next week to tell you.”
The flying fullback, who took a heavy blow on his ankle in the Cherries last match at Reading, watched from the sidelines, as his club lost for the first time in 16 league matches, this season.
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Ali McCann’s late winner saw bogey team, Preston North End, denting the Cherries’ impressive record run, in their backyard, at the Vitality Stadium.
Ben Whiteman drew first blood for the visitors, after 52 minutes, before Phil Billing restored parity, with his sixth goal of the season, on the hour mark.
Zemura was replaced by Welsh international, Chris Mepham, in the three changes made by Parker.
AFC Bournemouth, however, still maintained their place at the top of the Championship table with 37 points from 16 starts.
Their lead was slashed to just two points, following Fulham’s 7-0 thrashing of 10-men Blackburn Rovers, away at Ewood Park.
It remains unclear as to how long Zemura will be on the sidelines.
Before the injury, the Zimbabwean defender had played every minute of Bournemouth’s campaign, in his debut season, with the first team.
He suffered the knock following a heavy challenge by Reading midfielder, Josh Laurent, inside the opening quarter of an hour, last weekend
After treatment, Zemura was visibly struggling to provide his usual attacking output, down the left flank, following that foul.
He continued on until he was finally replaced by Mepham, for the remaining 20 minutes, of the match.
“He was struggling a little bit. He got a big knock on his ankle,” Parker told the Daily Echo.
“He was hobbling around a little bit. I felt we needed to keep him on or at least give us something. I asked him to push through it and he did that very well.
“The longer the game was going on, you could see someone who was pretty lame to be fair in that sense. Obviously needed to make the change, had to do that really.”
