North Village star David Thomas faces at least two months on the sidelines after cracking a rib in a weekend match.

Thomas had to be stretchered off during the latter stages of Sunday's match at Somerset against PHC after a collision with an opposing forward.

The Red Devils beat the Zebras 2-0, with Thomas playing a significant part in stifling the PHC attack.

The game was held up for a time as the player was treated on the pitch. He was then carried off on a stretcher where his condition was further assessed on the sidelines.

At the end of the game he was transferred to hospital via ambulance after he complained he was having difficulty breathing.

Village boss Scott Morton said: "He cracked one of his ribs. They kept him in overnight because they wanted to X-ray, but they couldn't do it on Sunday night because he was in too much pain.

"When you have problems breathing and not being able to talk for long periods, there is a possibility that one of your ribs could puncture your lung. They wanted to wait until the morning until some of the pain had been alleviated.'' Morton said he visited the player at the King Edward VII hospital in Paget after the match, which put Village four points clear at the top, and also spoke with his mother.

"I went down after the game. He couldn't speak too long, so I just gave him the team's best wishes,'' he said.

The coach said Thomas was still in a significant degree of pain 24 hours after the accident.

"Today (Monday) was the first day he was able to get up and walk about for a minute. But he was still in some pain, still in some discomfort,'' he said.

Morton said this wasn't the first time one of his players had suffered this kind of injury.

"We just had a player who cracked a rib. It wasn't any of our starting players, it was a player just coming back into the game after a short absence,'' he said.

"He said it was at least eight to 10 weeks before he could do anything, before he could even think of getting back to training.'' Asked if the league leaders would miss the presence of Thomas, Morton said: "Big time. He hasn't missed a game since the beginning of the season. He has been one of the stabilisers in our backline, so we will miss him greatly.

"He has been one of our most consistent players. He has started and played every game and has never come off the field. He has been one of the mainstays, one of those responsible for bringing us to the position we are in now.'' Morton said he did, however, have cover in Thomas's position.

"We have Jawon Thomas. He had too many yellow cards so he had to miss one game. He will be back in the team as one of the options as a replacement,'' he said.