Operation necessary

“It looks like a more serious injury!”

Sturm coach Christian Ilzer (left) will probably have to do without Jan Gorenc Stankovic, who was injured against BW Linz.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Sturm won 2:1 against BW Linz - but the joy in Graz was marred by a hand injury to captain Jon Gorenc Stankovic. The bitter diagnosis: a comminuted fracture of the radial head. The Slovenian needs an operation and will be out for up to ten weeks.

In stoppage time of the first half, Gorenc Stankovic unfortunately fell on his arm, meaning that the Slovenian was unable to continue playing. Tochi Chukwuani replaced the midfield stabilizer. "Stankovic is in hospital, the x-rays are being assessed. It's an injury to his hand, looks like a more serious injury," said Ilzer.

On Saturday evening, the club issued a press release: "The 28-year-old was immediately taken to the UKH Linz for initial examinations - the bitter diagnosis: a comminuted fracture of the radial head. Gorenc Stankovič will undergo surgery at Graz University Hospital and will be out for up to ten weeks."

This means the double winners will be missing their stabilizer in defensive midfield and their defensive leader in the crucial Champions League weeks.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"After Gregory Wüthrich, this is the next bitter injury to a key player," explained Andreas Schicker, Managing Director Sport. "Jon is extremely important for us - we will miss him greatly both on a sporting and personal level. But the most important thing at the moment is that he gets healthy again, and then I'm convinced that he'll soon be back at full strength."

Ilzer can be satisfied with the game against Linz. "It was an intense game, just as we had expected. You have to congratulate Blau-Weiß Linz on how they have developed. They didn't beat LASK and Rapid here for nothing. It was a difficult task to come away victorious here. We deserved to take the lead and had to concede the equalizer due to carelessness. In the final seconds, things really got going again. Those were great moments from Kjell," said Ilzer.

Sturm coach Christian Ilzer

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Here are the other comments on the game:

Gerald Scheiblehner (Blau-Weiß coach): "A very intense and fast game of soccer in which Sturm were the better team over 90 minutes - especially in terms of play. In the end, a big compliment to the team for still believing in themselves and finding three top chances, although it should have ended 2:2 due to these chances. We're proud that we came so close against such a top opponent. We were close, which is encouraging. But it's down to us that we don't get a point in the end."

BW Linz coach Gerald Scheiblehner

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Thomas Goiginger (Blue & White player): "Of course I can't really be happy about my goal. We know that Sturm are a very good team, but we did very well at times. It wouldn't really have been undeserved for us to come away with something. Sturm didn't really have the better chances. You have to remember that we played against a champion and cup winner who also plays in the Champions League."

Jusuf Gazibegovic (Sturm player): "We started pretty well but were unfortunate to equalize. On the whole, we stuck at it and had some incredible saves at the end. We're getting back on track and have shown mentality, things are looking up again. I think we're slowly getting going, but we're still not playing at our maximum and trying to act like a team."