GATESHEAD have confirmed that midfield ace Ed Francis will be sidelined for the foreseeable future after fracturing his skull against York City on New Year’s Day.

The Manchester City academy product injured himself in a collision during the closing stages of the first half, after which he was replaced by Jordan Hunter six minutes before the break.

Francis' long-term injury further compounds the Heed's injury woes, with captain Greg Olley and former York defender Robbie Tinkler also facing extended periods on the sidelines.

Speaking after the match, Gateshead boss Rob Elliot confirmed that the 24-year-old had suffered a serious injury and had been rushed to hospital.

“Ed’s got a really serious injury, and that just compounds it in terms of losing him,” he told the club.

“He’s off to hospital, but it doesn’t look very good.”

In a club statement on Wednesday evening, Gateshead revealed that the ex-England Under 19 international, who made the permanent move to the North East after a successful loan spell from Notts County last summer, “will unfortunately be unavailable for the immediate future and will be supported by the club where possible during his recovery.”

York co-chairman Matt Uggla sent Francis his well-wishes on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “Sad news. Wish him all the best in his recovery.

“I’m sure he will be back stronger.”

Elliot did not hold back in making his feelings known towards the Vanarama National League’s officials, slamming the decision not to award a foul or card in the aftermath of the incident.

“I’ll be honest, the officiating needs to get better. All of our injuries have been impact injuries.

“We’ve had two serious head injuries that haven’t been dealt with - not even cards issued or free kicks given. We’ve had Greg Olley with a serious knee injury and we’ve had multiple opportunities.

“If people are getting muscle injuries and are pulling up, then I can accept that and that’s something that we need to look at.

“But when you’re getting serious, serious injuries in games, it needs to be managed properly and be managed before it gets to that point, and that’s what I’ve tried to express in my frustrations.

“You can clearly see that those impacts are coming. Watching football for 20 years, you can see that the lad’s - whether he means to do that or not I don’t know - however the referee, he has to manage it better.

“This league is a full time league, and the referees need to be full time.

“We’re talking about player safety now. We’ve got a player who’s been rushed to A&E with a serious head injury and it’s just not acceptable.”