Left-back set for 7-month lay-off

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The 30-year-old has been superb at his home position of left-back, and has arguably been the unsung hero of this season, and perhaps the previous campaign too. Naysmith signed for the Blades in July 2007 for £1m pounds, but after having an operation on his knee, the fears became reality, as Kevin Blackwell explains:

"We hoped that there was no serious damage to his knee but Gary has undergone surgery on his cruciate ligament and will be out for six or seven months.

"It is extremely disappointing because he has been such a solid player for us all season and to lose him at this absolutely crucial stage is desperately bad luck for him and the club.

"Gary had his operation in hospital in London and Phil Jagielka was the next one in. They were virtually adjoining beds and will travel back up north together on Friday."

Jagielka, a former Blade of course, picked up an unfortunate injury in Everton's 1:2 defeat to the hands of Man City in the Premier League last week. After sending the Toffees through to the FA Cup Final with his winning spot-kick against Man Utd earlier in the month, he will miss thethe finale against Chelsea, which will also be staged at Wembley.