Federici to return as McCarthy dealt injury blow

Royals Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is likely to be out for around a month, after injuring his shoulder in the final seconds at QPR last week.

The former England under 21 international suffered the injury after colliding with the post, attempting to save a Djibril Cissé effort, seconds before the full time whistle was blown at Loftus Road. Early scans proved inconclusive, but shoulder specialists have said McCarthy could well be having a spell on the sidelines.

This means that the ‘forgotten man’ Adam Federici will start against Noriwch on Saturday, his first Premier League appearance in nearly over two months. The Australian’s last outing in a Royals jersey was not an enjoyable one either, conceding seven goals to Arsenal in Capital One Cup, but none you could directly blame at Federici.

It’s a massive shame for McCarthy who was without a doubt our most consistent player, making some superb saves and keeping us in games at times. Would he have been called up to the England squad had be not got the injury? We’ll never know. However, the spotlight is now back on Feders and he needs to prove his doubters wrong this Saturday.

Wiki page: Alex McCarthy