Pearce blow for Magpies

Pearce: Injury blow

Notts County defender Krystian Pearce has been ruled out for the next six weeks due to a head injury.

Pearce initially suffered a clash of heads with Mario Balotelli during last month's FA Cup tie at Manchester City before colliding with Magpies team-mate Stephen Darby in training at the start of the week.

The promising stopper was knocked unconscious for a couple of minutes before being taken to hospital where tests showed he had blood on the brain.

He will now be sidelined until some time next month and Magpies boss Paul Ince lamented the loss of Pearce.

On the mend

"It's a massive blow to lose Krystian," said Ince in the Nottingham Evening Post. "Pearce has been through the wars in the last couple of weeks and we were working on team play in training when he collided with Darbs'.

"He was knocked out cold for two or three minutes before our fitness coach brought him round.

"He went to hospital that afternoon and they said he had blood on his brain, so he was in there for a couple of days and came out on Wednesday.

"The important thing is he is on the mend now.

"We thought he was going to be out for one or two weeks, but we've been told it could be six weeks, which is more or less the rest of the season.

"We're not going to say his season is over. But, by the time he gets back in training and fit again, we will only have a couple of games left."