Maierhofer out after hernia op

Wolves striker Stefan Maierhofer has had a hernia operation in Germany in a bid to kickstart his career.

The 6ft 8ins forward flew to Munich last Thursday and had the operation the next day, after the niggling complaint in his groin.

Maierhofer will miss Saturday's game against Wigan but could be available for the FA Cup fourth-round tie against Crystal Palace.

Nontheless, the giant Austrian faces a ticking-off from manager Mick McCarthy after returning to start his rehabilitation.

Under McCarthy's rules, players are not supposed to publicly discuss injuries before informing the manager, but Maierhofer broke protocol by revealing the news on his own website.

The statement said: "Stefan has a hernia – a protrusion on an organ in the groin which a small operation can resolve.

"So he flew to Munich on Thursday for a preliminary investigation and on Friday had the operation before flying back to England.

"Stefan is only expected to miss the Wigan game, after Sunday's game with West Ham was postponed."

McCarthy has sympathised with fans over the postponement of yesterday's game at West Ham, the first the club has had in over two years since a home game with Scunthorpe.

The decision – taken because of snow and ice around Upton Park – was taken before noon on Saturday, after the players trained but before the team left for East London.

He said: "We hadn't left but we're OK travelling down on a nice coach – it's the fans you have to think about. They're the ones who make the trip and spend money on travelling down to London, at least they don't get so far down there and then the game was called off.

"We were obviously disappointed, because we'd prepared for the game and we wanted to play."