WESTFIELDS goalkeeper Jon Pugh has had an injury scare - but he’s confident it won’t scupper his Paralympic dreams.

Pugh has been officially selected as one of the two sighted shot-stoppers in the Great Britain Blind Football squad for September’s showpiece in Beijing.

He is having an operation this week to repair the damaged cartilage in a knee.

“I am very pleased at being selected,” said Pugh. “I have been waiting a long time to get into something prestigious like the Paralympics. I was delighted when the confirmation letter came through and I have also received a certificate.”

However, the goalkeeper suffered cartilage damage last month and feared he could be out of action for six months.

“I had a bit of a scare because I tore the cartilage in my knee,” he said.

“I went to see a doctor who told me it could be six months before it was right again. I was a bit shocked so I decided to get a second opinion. Thankfully, the news was much better. I am going in for the operation and I should be out of action for just two weeks.”

Despite suffering the injury, Pugh played for Great Britain in a June tournament which also involved Spain, Greece and Turkey.

Great Britain won all three matches on their way to clinching top place at the event.

Former Hereford student Aj Ahmed, 27, has been confirmed as Great Britain’s captain for the Paralympics.

Ahmed, an ex-student at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) in Hereford, said: “To represent my country at the highest level of my sport has been something that I have always wanted to do since I was boy growing up in Liverpool.”

Another former RNC student, Lee Greatbach, is in the squad together with striker Dave Clarke, a governor at the college since 2004.

The team are based at RNC and coached by Hereford lecturer Tony Larkin.

It is the first time that the Great Britain Blind Football team will be competing at the Paralympics.

Britain booked their place at the Paralympics after finishing second at the IBSA European Championships in Greece in 2007.

The Blind Football competition takes place at the Olympic Green hockey field in Beijing and kicks off on September 7.

The 10-man Great Britain squad will be: Aj Ahmed (captain), Jon Pugh, Andrew Briant, Dave Clarke, Lee Greatbach, Jonathan Gribbin, Simon Hill, Daniel James, William Norman, Keryn Seal.