Republic of Ireland striker Aaron Connolly has been ruled out of Ireland's upcoming games against New Zealand and Denmark.
The Brighton man suffered a groin injury in the 3-1 loss at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, coming off at halftime. It had been hoped it was nothing serious, with Ireland facing into a deciding Euro 2020 qualifier against Denmark next week.
Mick McCarthy said earlier today that the player would go for a scan to find out the severity of the injury, but the results have not been good. Speaking to the FAI website, the Irish boss said:
Our team doctor Alan Byrne has spoken to the Brighton medical team and had a look at the scans.
The scans have confirmed the groin injury and Aaron won't be ready in time for New Zealand and Denmark.
While he may have been rested for the New Zealand game even if he had been fully fit, losing Connolly for the clash against the Danes is a huge blow.
The Galway native has been in fantastic form since being handed a first team opportunity at Brighton earlier this season, a spell which included a stunning two goal performance against Spurs.
That led to a call-up to the Ireland squad for last month's qualifiers, where he impressed in a 12 minute cameo against Georgia. That saw him start against Switzerland, and while it was a quiet enough evening for the player, hopes were high that he would have a telling impact at the Aviva Stadium next Monday.
In terms of who could replace him in the team, David McGoldrick is back in the squad, while Sean Maguire is another option having missed last month's games due to injury.
Still, this is not the news we were hoping for.
