Tough-man Dunne set for early return - December 21, 2000
Colchester United defender Joe Dunne has shown his toughness by recovering from a horror injury in double quick time.
Dunne suffered an horrific facial injury at the weekend but is still expected to play some part in the club's Christmas programme.
The Dubliner clashed with Luton's Matthew Taylor which left him needing 40 stitches in a five-inch facial wound which was expected to keep him out for at least two months. But a cut is not going to stop an Irishman and he is raring to get back to action.
Colchester manager Steve Whitton said: "He's hoping to see a specialist as quickly as he can to make sure there is no further serious damage.
"He's a very tough lad and if everything is OK he could be back in the reckoning for our away trip to Rotherham on Saturday week."
Whitton revealed that he knew the injury was bad straight away by the reaction of his team mates and the Colchester boss added: "I couldn't force myself to go and look at it as he lay on the ground."
Colchester fortunes have taken an upturn this season and their form is being driven by their Irish players. They allowed David Greene to leave the club, which split up their Irish central-defensive partnership - but they quickly moved to sign another Irish defender, Scott Fitzgerald from Millwall.
They then added Barry Conlon on loan until the end of the season and since then they are one of the form teams in Division Two. They flirted with relegation last season but they are more positive this year and are now looking for a play-off place come the end of the campaign.