Update on Walsall's Alan Picken

Defender Alan Picken who followed DD over here from Newcastle Jets so far has been restricted to just two hours football in a saddlers shirt.

He made his debut against Rochdale and by all accounts looked impressive and was been touted as the signing of the season by many saddlers fans on that opening day. However progress has been plauged by a knee injury picked up in Aussie land.

Recently Alan has under gone further surgery and according to reports the initial operation in Australia ws 'a bit of a mess' and further debris and a bit of torn cartilage were removed.

The situation is that Alans rehab is going well and he is doing a lot of weights and strenght work. He has set himself the deadline of been ready for Xmas but Richard Money is determined not to rush him back too quickly and give him time to regain his match fitness and sharpness. Bearing that in mind new year seems more likely if injuries don't play a part, at least Roper got his suspension out of the way!

With the news that Darren Wrack is recovering well from the Hamstring injury following his come back from a leg break, things are looking up. Keates and Dobson have minor knocks which should clear up quickly. The promise of a new midfield player to go with new striker Par Cedarqvist DD will have virtually give the team a new spine for the new year.

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