Stoke and Scotland star Darren Fletcher forced to wear a head bandage after suffering horror injury on international duty

DARREN FLETCHER suffered a gruesome head injury last night during Scotland’s win over Slovakia.

The Stoke midfielder was left in agony after a clash of heads left him pouring blood.

In fact, Fletcher was so bad, he announced to the Scotland physio: “I think my ear’s hanging off.”

But the former Manchester United star battled on to play the rest of the match, which ended in a win for the Scots.

An own-goal from Martin Skrtel with minutes remaining means the Tartan Army still have a chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals.

And the sight of Fletcher in a head bandage was sure to have provided some inspiration for their late surge.

But the ace should count himself luck that the head wound wasn’t as bad as another suffered this week.

That unfortunate award went to Argentine footballer Francisco Vazzoler, who split his skull wide open after being smashed by two other players.

Bone was clearly visible when Vazzoler arrived at hospital, with the ace also diagnosed with brain trauma.

But he was later discharged and is now recovering at home, thankfully with no long-term injuries.

CEN

CEN