Venables believes skipper Matteo will avoid surgery on knee injury

LEEDS manager Terry Venables is confident skipper Dominic Matteo will not require surgery on a knee injury which is dogging the centre-back this season.

Matteo has effectively been playing through the pain barrier, and although earning Venables’ praise for giving his all to Leeds’ cause, it is a problem which caught up with him during the victory over Manchester United nine days ago.

The 28-year-old was unable to play on after half-time, and ultimately missed the UEFA Cup win over Ukrainian side Metalurg Zaporizhya last Thursday, as well as Sunday’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at Blackburn.