Bradford City's 19-year-old women's soccer international striker Melanie Garside has broken her leg in a freak accident.

She was training with her City colleagues at Peel Park when, having taken a shot at goal, she went over on her standing foot and collapsed in agony clutching her lower leg.

"She said she felt the crack immediately," explained one distraught team-mate.

An ambulance took the former Whitcliffe Mount Schoolgirl to the Bradford Royal Infirmary where, having initially had the joint put in a restraining plaster, she underwent an operation yesterday afternoon to pin the bone. She is expected to remain in hospital until the end of the week.

After making her England debut last season the City youngster has found herself on the fringe this time, under new manager Hope Powell, and this injury is a serious set back to her international ambitions.

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