Swansea's Neil Taylor Suffers Fractured Ankle

Swansea's season has hit a bit of a road bump today with the news that left back Neil Taylor suffered a fractured ankle during the team's 2-2 against Sunderland.

The Welsh defender picked up the injury in the 16th minute after colliding with Craig Gardner as they both went for the ball. Taylor's leg buckled awkwardly underneath is body as he went to ground and was stretchered off the pitch after being treated for a extended period of time.

"I just talked to the doctor and we are still not 100 percent but there is a fracture, at least one," Swans head coach Michael Laudrup said. "We are talking about a long period of rehabilitation before he returns to the game, I can't tell you precisely how long because I don't know."

Swans fans were enraged over the fact that Taylor and not Gardner was punished for the tackle, but Laudrup refused to pass blame on the Sunderland player saying it was not a violent tackle and just one of those strange injuries that sometimes occur.

"When you have injuries like that it is normally very violent, but this was not violent," he added. "It was even a free kick against us. Sometimes these injuries happen in strange ways, you don't think anything is wrong and then there is ligament damage or something like that, it is very sad.

Gardner tweeted after the match explaining that he never touched Taylor and hoping he was ok after injury. One expects that Gardner will never again get a warm reception from Swans fans, even if he really wasn't at fault for the injury.

The injury also affects the Welsh national team who will be without Taylor for their upcoming World Cup qualifier. No word on the amount of time Taylor is expected to miss, but it could be awhile.