Holder to return after horror injury

Chatham defender Corey Holder could be playing in the Ryman League again within months of having his spleen removed after suffering a horror injury.

And his delighted Ryman North club say the 22-year-old, pictured, could even be cheering them on from the sidelines this Saturday at St Albans in the FA Cup's Fourth Qualifying Round after doctors confirmed he was making good progress after he was hurt during their 2-2 draw at Romford last Wednesday night.

Holder was rushed to hospital with suspected broken ribs but had his spleen removed in an emergency operation following the freak accident during the match when he landed awkwardly and his elbow went into his side, rupturing the organ.

With no spleen, the Chats star will be on medication for the rest of his life but was told by medics at the Darent Valley Hospital that he is lucky to be alive and should make a full recovery.

Chatham manager Kevin Watson said: "We're hoping to have him with us on the sidelines for the FA Cup game at the weekend – that will be a great morale boost for us. It's an injury that can be overcome and we are confident he will play again this season but it will be a long road back.

"Their physio [Romford's] was excellent, as were others at the club, and it could have been a lot worse had people not responded properly. We knew it was serious as he doesn't usually like to come off, but we assumed it was a cracked rib or just severe bruising."

The extent of Holder's injury was only discovered when he had an MRI scan and he said: "I’ve been told I should be back playing in about three months. It’s just a case of waiting for the injury to heel. It hasn’t put me off football. If I did it another 100 times it wouldn’t happen again. It was just a freak accident."

The defender added: "I was in excruciating pain around my stomach area which would not go away. I had never felt pain like it before. It was like a winding pain, a stitch and a stomach cramp all rolled into one. All this time I had lost two litres of blood from my spleen. The doctor said if I'd gone home I would have died in my sleep."