Ireland's Paul Dillon faces the biggest battle of his young career. The 22-year-old Rotherham defender has ruptured his Achilles tendon for the second time in less than a year and now is facing a battle to save his career.

Dillon first suffered the injury in December and was making steady progress back to fitness when he ruptured his tendon for a second time last week. Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore is very worried about his highly rated defender who faces another operation this week.

Moore said: "We are not just talking about missing a year, his career could go too. If Paul doesn't do the right things now he might not play again. These next few months are such an important time for the lad."

The Limerick-born defender had become a regular in the Rotherham team since he made his debut in 1997, playing in over 80 first team games in this time.