Lions prop Andrew Sheridan admits he is unsure about his future in the sport after his latest injury setback.
The England and Sale star is today heading home from New Zealand after seeing his World Cup dream brought to a premature end after suffering shoulder damage at the weekend.
Sheridan took a heavy blow in Saturday’s opening Pool B win over Argentina and a scan confirmed he is likely to require surgery to solve the problem.
It will be the fourth time the 31-year-old has been under the knife for a similar problem and, although he won’t be rushing into any rash decision on what comes next, Sheridan will be weighing up his options regarding his stellar playing career.
“Of course there are concerns for the future,” Sheridan told the Manchester Evening News.
“If I do need another operation then that will be four in two years on my shoulders.
“But I’ll just have to wait and see what the surgeon says, then make a decision from there.
“I’m not going to make any rash decisions because I’ve had another setback. But you just have to weigh up all the evidence, then see if you can rehab it all properly and get back.
“I think everyone knows shoulders are quite complicated structures, so it’s difficult to come back.
“It’s massively disappointing but I have to go back, speak to the surgeon, speak to the club and make a decision about what to do next.
“We’ll just have to see what needs to be done with it, whether that’s another operation or just a period of recovery with a bit of physio.”
Sheridanhad only just returned to the England side following back, calf and shoulder problems during 2011 and is understandably frustrated to be playing no further part in England’s bid to regain the World Crown they won in 2003.
“I’ve only played two games and now I’ve had another setback. I’m extremely disappointed,” added Sheridan.
“I knew that something went wrong during the game. It was sore at half-time. I played on for 20-odd minutes.
“I knew it was sore, but it was only really a couple of days after that it was stiffening up and giving me a lot of trouble. Now I’m going home. I didn’t know just how bad it was going to be…it’s a significant injury.”
