With the passing of time, his blip during the relegation season can be put into perspective as one bad season among many, many good ones. He has shown a great deal of loyalty to the club and was desperate to get back playing, so it's a sad day when he finally has to hang up his boots.
All the more a pity when you consider the unfortunate demise of arguably one of Saints' most effective central partnerships in recent decades with Michael Svensson still a long, long way from playing again.
The medium term injury is also a cruel blow with the leading contender for player of the season, Andrew Davies, going under the surgeon's knife to repair not one but three fractures to his cheekbone, plus a crack near his eye socket. There was talk of him playing through with a protective mask, but even Davies can't play with that much damage to his face!
This is a real concern as we need his leadership and dominance at the back more than ever, particularly after the disastrous 5-0 drubbing to Hull which saw the return of Powell and the defensive calamaties we thought had been eradicated.
The short term doubt is over third choice keeper Poke who is struggling with the ankle injury that should have prevented him from playing at all against Hull had Saints had any real cover on the bench. Saints are desperate for an emergency keeper with the rumours suggesting that former England keeper Richard Wright could be the saviour.
It has been a season of defensive woes, so should we really be surprised that ahead of the most important game of recent years (since last Saturday's!) is overshadowed by this?
We have to hope that Pearson can continue our run of coming back from big defeats to gring out a win. Some defenders would help...