Men's football news
Two of the men’s first-team squad are having operations this week to aid their recovery from long-term injury.
Alex Malins – who has been out for more than a year now with an ankle injury – is having an operation to repair ligament damage. Alex first broke his ankle in a FA Trophy game in autumn 2017. He made a comeback in pre-season but suffered complications, before making another attempted comeback around Christmas. After playing a couple of games on loan at Horsham YMCA, he was still suffering pain in the ankle and a specialist confirmed ligament damage that requires surgery to repair.
Steve Brinkhurst is also undergoing surgery this week. Brinky has suffered from a long-term knee condition, but seemed to have overcome the worst of it to become Mr (almost) Ever-Present over the past couple of season. Alas, he damaged the knee once more in the defeat at Merstham shortly before Christmas and he too requires surgery to repair the damage.
“We wish the pair of them good luck with their operations,” said manager Darren Freeman. “It’s been fustrating for Alex but he’s showed a fantastic attitude and hopefully we’ll be seeing him back in a Lewes shirt as soon as possible. The same goes for Brinky. We’ve missed Brinky significantly since he’s been out of the side, but I’m sure he’ll bounce back and be ready for the start of next season.”
Meanwhile, Ronnie Conlon will undergo surgery next month to repair his anterior cruciate ligament, which was ruptured earlier in the season.