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Page last updated at 09:24 GMT, Wednesday, 18 February 2009

Cardiff rocked by keeper injury

Tom Heaton has made 21 league and cup starts for Cardiff
Tom Heaton has made 21 league and cup starts for Cardiff

Cardiff City's on-loan goalkeeper Tom Heaton has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a torn thigh muscle.

First-choice keeper Peter Enckelman is already out for up to eight weeks after undergoing a knee operation earlier this month.

That leaves emergency loan keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos the only senior stopper available to manager Dave Jones.

Heaton, 22, picked up the injury in his first game since November, Monday's 4-0 FA Cup fourth round replay to Arsenal.

Despite the defeat, he picked up the man-of-the-match award and was hoping to keep the number one shirt for Sunday's trip to promotion rivals Wolves.

"I'm absolutely gutted," Heaton told the South Wales Echo. "I've had to wait for my chance and now this happens."

Heaton lost his place after picking up a calf injury in the 2-1 defeat at Plymouth in November.

The England Under-21 international has struggled to win it back because of the form of former Blackburn and Aston Villa keeper Enckelman.

Konstantopoulos, 30, was signed earlier this month from Coventry as cover for Enckelman.

The Greek stopper had been on emergency loan at Cardiff's arch rivals Swansea.

But he reached the maximum 93-day stay allowed and missed the deadline to turn his loan into a standard loan until the end of the season after paperwork was not signed in time.



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see also
Arsenal 4-0 Cardiff
16 Feb 09 |  FA Cup
Cardiff will recover, vows Jones
17 Feb 09 |  Cardiff
Eduardo delight at dream comeback
17 Feb 09 |  Arsenal
Cardiff snap up Konstantopoulos
09 Feb 09 |  Cardiff
Cardiff sign Man Utd goalkeeper
23 May 08 |  Cardiff
Plymouth 2-1 Cardiff
22 Nov 08 |  Championship
Cardiff snap up keeper Enckelman
10 Jan 08 |  Cardiff
BBC Sport Wales coverage
03 Oct 11 |  Wales


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