Boucaud out for two weeks after horrific injury
Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph
Andre Boucaud looks set for at least two weeks on the sidelines after suffering a horrific facial injury during Kettering Town's defeat at Blue Square Premier leaders Stevenage Borough.
The Poppies midfielder went up for a high ball with former Rushden & Diamonds defender Jon Ashton after just 18 minutes at Broadhall Way on Saturday.
The two players collided in a sickening clash of heads and it was later revealed that Boucaud blacked out before he had to be helped off the pitch in a daze.
He suffered a broken nose and needed a total of eight stitches while Ashton had 15 stitches in a head wound.
Poppies boss Lee Harper was angry with Ashton for the incident at the time. But he admitted it was a knee-jerk reaction due to his concern for Boucaud's health.
Harper is now hoping to keep recent arrival Jordan Hadfield at the club on a longer deal after he proved to be a worthy replacement in the 2-0 defeat.
"Andre has broken his nose, he needed three stitches around his nose and five near his eye," Harper said.
"In the heat of the moment I thought it was an unfair challenge but people have told me differently.
"We were very worried about Andre, though, because our physio Jimmy Davidson said his eyes rolled when he went out there to attend to him.
"I felt it was an over-aggressive challenge and maybe I was wrong. I was concerned about Andre and maybe it was a knee-jerk reaction.
"He certainly won't play tomorrow or Saturday. I would have thought it would be a minimum of two weeks that he will be out.
"He will be a big miss for us but I thought Jordan came on and did well and hopefully we will get him tied up for the rest of the season."
Harper, who will today have an injection to try to sort out his
career-threatening back injury, was delighted with his team's display as they pushed the leaders all the way.
"I am over the moon with the way the lads went about their jobs," he added.
"They couldn't be questioned for their effort, passion and commitment.
"We had the chances but our final product lacked quality and we will continue to work on our finishing.
"We haven't got a lot of money but we have got Kwesi Appiah in and we have also got Anthony Robinson joining us today so hopefully things will change in front of goal."