The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier

King’s Lynn Town are admitting a serious injury to star defender Stuart Wall is a massive blow ahead of their Evo-Stik NPL First Division South curtain-raiser at home to Chasetown on Saturday.

Last season’s Player of the Year is believed to have damaged his cruciate knee ligaments during the Linnets’ final warm-up game, a 3-1 victory at Soham on Saturday. Wall is expected to spend a lengthy spell on the sidelines with manager Gary Stetchell fearing he could be out until after Christmas.

The popular centre half was already making a comeback after dislocating the same knee against Wisbech earlier in preseason. The club confirmed to the Lynn News today [Tuesday] that he is due to undergo an MRI scan this week to determine the extent of damage.

Setchell told the paper’s website: "To lose your player of the year a couple of days before the start of the season is a massive blow. He found a little rut in the pitch and it looks like he might have done his cruciate. It’s disastrous for him and it’s not great for us because he’s a big part of what we’re trying to do."

The manager confirmed that the Linnets were in a good position to support the player before revealing his worst fears that one of his top stars could miss months of the club's debut campaign in the Evo-Stik NPL.

"The club will support Stuart every step of the way on his road to recovery as we have a good insurance policy at the club," he said. "He’s absolutely devastated. We won’t know the full extent till he gets a scan but it’s not easy to get one and I would expect at this stage he’ll be out till past Christmas."

He added: "It’s very disappointing as Stuart had just come back, had done all his physio and was basically just walking backwards to receive a little ball and he went over. The football went well against Soham but it’s irrelevant when you lose one of your best players. We’ve got good centre-halves who did well on Saturday but you think more of the lad than the team at the minute."