Andy Murray may withdraw from Barcelona Open due to elbow injury

Murray went down battling, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, and admitted he will have to take medical advice before planning any further.

"Certainly I'll have an MRI scan, maybe tomorrow," said the Scot after going down in just under three hours. You sometimes get like a bit of bone basically that has fallen off.

"It sounds worse than it is, but it's basically floating around in the joint. So every time I bend it, I get of a lot of, like, clicking. It just feels really bruised because I obviously had a couple of injections. There's blood and stuff going in there.

"It was good because I managed to play. But I would have liked to have finished the match a bit better."

Murray had a fright when the problem first arose in the countdown to the semi-final.

"Yesterday at the beginning of the second set (in his quarter-final), I felt something, but I managed to play through it," he said. "This morning I was hitting, warming up fine. I went to hit some serves; I couldn't serve."

The world No 4 said the injury took a psychological toll.

"When you do have an injury, it's sometimes difficult to concentrate. Against someone like him, you need to play every single point, concentrate from every single point to the last.

"You can't just throw games, hope to hang onto your serve. You need to play every single point to put pressure on him."

But overall the Scot could fault little in his performance.

"I thought it was a good match, but I think I can play better. It's good to know you're able to play at a similar level to what he does on the clay. To win against him, you need to be able to do that for three and a half hours, four hours.

"The matches that he's lost on clay the last few years have been normally long ones. He's the best player in the world for a reason."

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Steve Bruce demands answers from Sunderland medical team over crippling injury list

Exasperated Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is to launch an inquiry into why so many of his players break down in games.

The Black Cats have been severely hampered in recent weeks by having to make early substitutions which have disrupted the plans on which they have worked on the training pitch.

Lee Cattermole and Kieran Richardson had both limped off by the time 23 minutes of the 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool on March 20 had elapsed, while both John Mensah and Richardson again failed to last beyond the half-time whistle on Saturday as West Brom won 3-2 at the Stadium of Light.

Bruce has repeatedly insisted he does not want to make injuries an excuse for the club's disastrous run of form, which has seen them collect just a single point from their last eight Barclays Premier League games.

However, he is concerned at the regularity with which he is having to make early substitutions.

Bruce said: 'It isn't happening on the training ground, it happens out there all the time in the match. It's something we will have to analyse. It is not a coincidence. We have had five operations and all five of them have broken down, so it is hampering us.

'I am not trying to blame anybody - I will take the blame - but we will have to look into it as to the reason why it keeps recurring like it is at the moment.'

Bruce's team on Saturday included two men - defender Michael Turner and striker Danny Welbeck - who have just returned from long-term knee injuries, while Fraizer Campbell is close to doing the same.

However, Titus Bramble is struggling to play again this season because of a cartilage problem and keeper Craig Gordon is currently fit enough only to sit on the bench as he continues with a specially-designed programme designed to help him avoid knee surgery.

In addition, midfielder David Meyler has managed only five appearances this season because of serious knee injuries, making Bruce's concern understandable.

He said: 'It's been particularly frustrating from the offset, really, that we have had big trauma injuries to big players of ours.

'Unfortunately in the end, it does catch up with you. You can maybe get away with it for a couple of weeks, but when you are talking months like Michael Turner and Fraizer Campbell and David Meyler and Danny Welbeck...

'Everywhere I look, people have missed three and four months, which has been far, far too many, and that's why I have got to ask now why, why is it us? We will try to get to the bottom of that, if I can.'

Sunderland's woes have been compounded by a slide from the fringes of the race for Europe to 13th place, where they remain vulnerable to an attack from the sides below them desperately fighting the pull of a relegation zone.

The Black Cats are six points clear of trouble with six games left to play, but head for Bruce's former club Birmingham on Saturday knowing a continuation of their recent form could prove disastrous.

However, their remaining fixtures include clashes with the Blues, Wigan, Wolves and West Ham, who are all worse off, and their fate remains within their own hands.

Saturday's defeat by the Baggies, a game in which they twice led, did not go down well on Wearside, although Bruce continues to enjoy the support of owner Ellis Short and chairman Niall Quinn.

But fans who were more than dismayed at Darren Bent's ?24million for Aston Villa in January have started to voice their disapproval at a run which has seen the club win just once in the nine games since.

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England and Duham bowler Graham Onions suffers further injury setback

England seamer Graham Onions has suffered a further setback in his recovery from a troublesome back injury. Onions, who was forced to return early from England's recent tour of Bangladesh, pulled up again while bowling in the nets at Durham's Riverside ground earlier this week.

The 27 year-old again complained of soreness in his back and was sent for a precautionary scan by England's medical staff.

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"The scans showed no serious injury and Graham will be re-assessed by England's medical team next week," said an England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman.

Onions's batting twice helped England avoid defeat in South Africa during the winter when his dogged tail end batting enabled them to escape with draws with nine wickets down at Centurion and Cape Town.

But he was dropped for the fourth Test in Johannesburg when England opted to play Ryan Sidebottom and has been left out of the squad for the forthcoming World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.

No date has yet been set for a possible playing comeback by Onions but he has a month to prove his fitness as the first Test of the summer against Bangladesh at Lord's does not start until May 27.

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