Thursday 3 September 2015 12:20, UK
Chesterfield have been dealt an injury blow with the news that recent signing Angel Martinez will be out for around six months with a knee injury.
The midfielder, who joined the club last month, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in training this week.
"Angel was training on Tuesday and he went for a ball in the last minute of the session. He collided with a team-mate and his left leg was forced into hyper-extension and he heard something snap," Chesterfield's head of sports science and medicine Rodger Wylde told the club's official website.
"He came back to the ground and we assessed him and all the tests were positive for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture.
"We arranged for him to see a specialist on Wednesday morning and an MRI scan confirmed what we thought.
"All the other ligaments are intact, and the prognosis now is for Angel to have three to four weeks for his knee to settle down, he'll do some strength work and some cycling to go through the full range of movement.
"Then he'll have a full reconstruction of the ACL and a return to playing is expected five months after the operation. All-in-all it'll be six months from now."
Martinez started Chesterfield's last three Sky Bet League 1 matches, helping the Spireites earn seven points.
Manager Dean Saunders had been impressed with the impact the Spaniard had made during his short time at the Proact Stadium.
He said: "It is very disappointing for the boy. He's made a big impact since he arrived and made a big difference to Sam Morsy and Jay O'Shea, helping us keep back-to-back clean sheets.
"We are all disappointed to lose Angel, but that's football and we have to accept it and carry on."
