IPSWICH Town's England Under-21 international defender Titus Bramble has spoke for the first time about his fears that he needs surgery to salvage his season.

By Dave Allard

IPSWICH Town's England Under-21 international defender Titus Bramble has spoke for the first time about his fears that he needs surgery to salvage his season.

The 20-year-old centre-half visits a London specialist on Wednesday in an attempt to get to the bottom of his nagging Achilles tendon problem.

The injury may require an operation before Bramble can return to the Blues rearguard.

"I hope an operation won't be necessary, but if it is then it may be best to get on with it," he said.

The problem has seen Bramble sidelined for the last four Town games and miss out on another England Under-21 cap against Greece earlier this month.

"I'm relieved to be seeing the specialist. I really am," he admitted.

"Hopefully, he may say that an operation is not needed and if it is then it may be possible to delay it to the end of the season.

"But if he decides that there is no way forward without it then I'd rather get it over with and get back as quickly as possible. I've had the problem on and off since pre-season and not so long ago it was really bad.

"I tried to do a bit of running again last week but it was no good. I just wasn't 100 per cent."

David Williams, the Town physiotherapist, today revealed more details about Bramble's continuing problem.

He said: "There is a bone at the back of the ankle joint that is putting pressure on the Achilles. Injections have taken away quite a bit of the pain, but it is still not right.

"It may be a case of more rest being the answer or it may be a case of some other action. We'll have to wait and see."