Fulham fear Paintsil's season over -threatens World Cup

English side Fulham fear Ghana defender John Paintsil could be sidelined for the rest of the season due a knee injury which also threatens his participation in the 2010 World Cup.

 
Painstil picked up the injury on Monday in the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Fulham say the Ghanaian could be out for six months.

  
If the predictions of club  manager Roy Hodgson are true, Ghana's best player for this year would have just recovered for the World Cup which puts his match fitness in doubt.

 
That is because the English league season ends on 9 May and with the World Cup starting one month later, the Black Stars most influential right-back could be ruled.

 
Fulham are waiting on the verdict on his injury, but manager Roy Hodgson is not upbeat about the likely prognosis.

 
"I'm more concerned that he will miss the rest of the season because I always fear the worst when players twist their knees," Hodgson said.

 
"We won't know how long John will be out for until Saturday when our specialist returns.

 
"We want him to have a look at John before we make any decisions. The scan shows there is damage to the posterior cruciate ligament.

 
"We're talking about a period of rehabilitation of eight to 12 weeks, whatever happens.

 
"It could be that the damage is sufficiently bad that he might require an operation. If that's the case he'll be out for another four to six weeks.

 
"It's really bad news for us and for John as well because he was voted Ghana player of year and has been playing very well. Now he's looking ahead to a long period of rehabilitation."