Knee injury may spell the end of midfielder’s career

Micky Adams today revealed that the career of midfielder Chris Shuker could be in jeopardy as the knee injury he is suffering with is getting progressively worse over time.

The midfielder joined Vale two years ago after previously being released from his contract at Morecambe and he has started 31 games and been named as substitute a further 28 times during that spell.

Manager Micky Adams said: “The reason Chris has not been featuring much is because he has got a chronic knee problem that he has had since he has been at the football club, and it seems to be getting worse and worse.

“Some days are good and some days are not so good with it and there is a serious doubt about Chris’s future as a professional footballer.

“That’s not to say he won’t feature between now and the end of the season. As I said before, some days are better than other, but certainly we have to monitor what he does now.

“I think that Chris is a sensible adult and he has thought about his future off the pitch. He has got a couple of irons in the fire that he has done for the last few years from a business point of view.

“So he is not one of those that if he gets to the end of this season and there is nothing there, ‘what do I do now?’

“I think he has already made contingency plans for that scenario, but we will monitor it. All I have to do is keep asking him how his knee is.

“Some days you see him and he looks older than me, but if he is selected he gives his all.”