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Wolves goalkeeper breaks hand punching tactics board after letting in terrible own goal

Ryan Bailey

Having dropped from the Premier League last season, Wolverhampton Wanderers now find themselves fighting a second successive relegation in the Championship bottom three. The Midlands side managed a 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Molineux, but goalkeeper Carl Ikeme had a bad day at the office after letting a backpass from defender David Davis slip through his legs.

Ikeme didn't play in the second half, but not necessarily because manager Dean Saunders took him out of the game. After the Welsh manager initally claimed the 26-year-old had injured his hand in the opening 45, it has been revealed that he actually punched a tactics board in frustation. Since he is not Zlatan and his bones are not made of steel, he broke his hand. Saunders explained in The Daily Mail:

"Carl was frustrated at making his mistake and has punched the tactics board which is only cardboard but there is a metal bar at the back of it which has damaged his hand. He has not meant to break his hand - Kevin Doyle kicked the corner flag after scoring his goal and he could have ended up breaking his foot!

"Every single one of us has punched something or pushed something out of frustration but you don't expect to cause yourself injury."

The first-choice goalkeeper now faces at least a month on the sidelines watching his side struggle for survival while he recovers from a sporting cliché gone very wrong. Suddenly the backpass goal doesn't seem like the dumbest thing he did last weekend.