PROFESSIONAL footballer Rohan Ince, who is on loan to Swindon Town, has gone on trial accused of a Christmas Day assault on a doorman.

Ince, 24, of Ashford, Middlesex is charged with wounding with intent in Windsor on December 25 in 2015.

Reading Crown Court heard there is no dispute that doorman Gregor Juric suffered a head injury after being hit.

But a jury of seven women and five men was told that Ince, a former Chelsea trainee who is on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion to Swindon, denies causing the injury.

Judge Paul Dugdale, speaking to the jury before the case was opened, said Mr Juric was working as a doorman in Windsor.

"There's no dispute that at some stage of that evening he was struck on the side of his head causing an injury which bled a lot," the judge said.

"The dispute lies as to whether it was Mr Ince who was the person who caused that injury.

"That is going to be the job for you to determine."

The judge warned the jury not to discuss the case with friends or family or research it online.

"It is particularly important in relation to this case," he added.

"You will hear that Rohan Ince is a professional footballer.

"He plays for a fairly well-known football club and this is a case which has received a great deal of press interest."

The judge said he hoped the jury would be sent out to consider its verdict on Wednesday.

Ince denies a single charge of wounding with intent, which alleges that he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Gregor Juric with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

Prosecuting, Nigel Daly told the jury that Ince had hit Mr Juric on the head with a bottle, causing a "nasty wound".

The incident allegedly took place between 3.30am and 4am on Christmas Day outside Atik nightclub on Victoria Street in Windsor.

"A lot of people had gathered outside the nightclub," Mr Daly said.

"They numbered in possibly hundreds outside on the streets of Windsor that night.

"Some, no doubt, had had a few festive drinks and it seems the atmosphere was getting worse. There was trouble brewing.

"The police were in attendance but they were grossly outnumbered."

Mr Daly said security staff from the nightclub, including Mr Juric, were helping police to control the crowds.

Mr Juric saw a police officer dealing with an aggressive man and went over, putting his arms around him.

As he did so, he was hit from behind, the jury heard.

"It was hard and it was sharp," Mr Daly said. "That was him feeling the bottle hit over his head."

Another member of the security team, Michael Zgorzalek, saw Mr Juric being attacked by a man.

"This man was tall, he was black and he was wearing a short green jacket," Mr Daly said.

"Mr Zgorzalek saw this man run to Mr Juric with a bottle in his right hand.

"As he got to him he saw this man jump up into the air and bring the bottle down on to his head. Having done that, Mr Ince began to run from the scene.

"A police officer took him to the floor. As he did so, the bottle came out of his hand and span across the road."

Ince was arrested and taken to Maidenhead Police Station, while Mr Juric was driven to Wexham Park Hospital by ambulance.

The doorman had sustained a cut measuring between 5-7cm on his head, which required seven metal staples.

In a police interview, Ince said he had punched a man who had attacked his brother, then started to run away.

"He said he tripped and fell before he was mounted by a policeman and a security man," Mr Daly told the court.

"He said he had never had a bottle in his hand."

Mr Juric's blood was found on Ince's jacket. The court heard there was a one in a billion chance the blood was from someone else.

CCTV footage allegedly shows a bottle coming away from Ince as he is tackled to the ground.

Giving evidence, Mr Juric said he had not seen the person who had hit him with the bottle.

"It was done from behind," he told the jury. "I didn't see the person who did it."

The doorman said he had gone to help a policeman restrain a man.

"I felt a thud, a sharp object hit me from the side," he said.

"I didn't know at the time what it was. I felt it and turned around. I felt another contact with my cheek.

"It was raining at the time and it was quite wet so it took me some time to realise I was bleeding."

Mr Juric said he felt the bottle smash when it impacted with his head.

"There was the sound of it and there was glass on me," he added.

Mr Zgorzalek said he was among six or seven doormen helping police to disperse a crowd of up to 500 people outside the nightclub.

He told the jury he could see his colleague Mr Juric splitting up a group of men.

"I could see a guy who was running with a bottle in his hand," he said.

"I could see him jumping up and doing an NBA-style slam dunk with the bottle.

"It was a Jack Daniels bottle.

"The thing I found quite shocking was the JD bottle was smaller than the normal one litre.

"That smashed on his head.

"The smaller bottle is a lot, lot stronger so he must have whacked him with some force to smash that bottle."

He described the assailant as between 6ft 1in and 6ft 2in, dressed all in black apart from a green bomber jacket.

"The police officer tackled him down," he told the jury.

"I ran over to help the police officer and put him in handcuffs.

"He said he was sorry. Then he kept saying 'are you sure it's me, are you sure it's me?"

Mr Zgorzalek said it was "seconds" between his colleague being attacked and the man being arrested.

He insisted he had the attacker in his vision all the time.

The trial continues