Terrible blow for Darron Gibson as cruciate fears confirmed

Everton and Ireland midfielder Darron Gibson has been dealt a terrible blow after Noel King confirmed this morning that he has damaged the cruciate ligament in his knee.

Gibson landed awkwardly after a fairly innocuous challenge midway through the first half of Ireland’s victory over Kazakhstan last night and seemed to be in some discomfort as he was stretchered off the pitch and replaced by Glenn Whelan. Noel King confirmed to journalists this morning that he had damaged the cruciate ligament in his knee, one of the most dreaded injuries in sport and one that is likely to sideline him for the majority of the season.

Cruciate ligament injury for Darron Gibson, according to Noel King — Mark McCadden (@markmccadden) October 16, 2013

 

King: "I feel very bad for Darron Gibson, he's not good. It's awful. It might be a few months; won't be easy to get back this season." #efc — Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh (@Ciaran_O) October 16, 2013

  The setback is particularly ill-timed from an Irish point of view as Gibson had just returned from a self-imposed international exile and he’ll have to wait for the opportunity to potentially establish an all-Irish central midfield partnership with James McCarthy at Everton. Plenty of players have suffered the injury over the years and come back as good if not better than ever and at 25 (26 later this month) Gibson has plenty of time on his side. We wish him all the best with his recovery.