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Queensland Roar youngster Spase Dilevski has been ruled out for at least six weeks after scans on Thursday revealed he will need surgery on his injured groin.
An MRI scan confirmed that Dilevski is suffering from a hernia in his groin, which has forced the 21-year-old to withdraw from the Qantas Socceroos' training camp for Australia's Asian cup qualifier with Kuwait later this month.
Dilevski will also miss at least the Roar's opening round match of the Hyundai A-League against the Glory, though Roar performance co-ordinator Tony Ganter expected Dilevski to be back in action by round three at the latest.
"This kind of hernia is a result of a defect that Spase would have had for a long time," Ganter said.
"He has a history of on and off pain on that side but it's never reached the point where it became too much of a problem.
"This injury is something that can occur at any time and it's different from a sportsman's hernia…this one is caused by a direct hole that has to be repaired.
"The good thing about this type of hernia is that the success and recovery rate is extremely high. Usually there are no further problems once the hole is repaired.
"It's a common injury and on the positive side it's better that it has happened now and not mid-season."
Dilevski himself had mixed feelings about the timing of his injury.
"Of course it's very disappointing but this is just part of being a professional footballer," he said, "these things will happen from time to time and you just have to deal with it.
"On one hand the timing couldn’t have been worse because of the Socceroos camp next week, but on the other hand at least I won't miss too much of the A-League season.
"The good thing is that once I've had the surgery the problem will be fixed and I can focus on playing football again with the knowledge that this will not re-occur.
"These things make you stronger and it's important to remain positive – that's what I plan to do |
Terrible news for him, especially as he has to pull out of the squad for the Asian Cup game. I think he had a good season in general last year, hopefully he can continue to improve this season.
