Adelaide United have announced captain and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic is set to be sidelined for up to six weeks with a knee injury.
After returning from international duty with the Socceroos, Galekovic was told he would require an arthroscopy to fix the issues he is experiencing.
As a result, John Hall will continue as the club’s first choice goalkeeper and will make his second starting appearance for the Reds against Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 2.
Hall’s starting debut came in Round 1 against United’s fiercest rivals, Melbourne Victory, where he was a standout performer for the Reds, keeping a clean sheet and making a number of pivotal saves.
As a result the Reds have signed John Solari as a back up to Hall while Eugene is unavailable.
Guillermo Amor unsurprisingly lamented the loss of Galekovic to his squad, but reiterated the confidence he has in Hall, especially after such a positive showing against Victory.
“Losing your captain and goalkeeper to injury is never easy,” Guillermo said.
“Eugene is a great player and a great leader of this team, but we have depth and can cover for this loss.
“John showed his confidence and abilities last week and he will continue to grow in this role. We are lucky to have two such strong goalkeepers in our team.”
Adelaide United’s Club Doctor Dr James Illic said, “Eugene had his arthroscopy yesterday and what it’s shown is that he had some damage to the lining underneath his kneecap.
“It’s a relatively common injury and has been an on-going problem for Eugene.
“It’s something that gets progressively worse over time and Eugene has been coping with it well all of last season and even during the offseason.
“With the accumulative load of trainings taking their toll, he recently felt he wasn’t able to perform at the level required of him.
“The recovery to this type of procedure takes up to six weeks and he will gradually increase his movability again after overcoming the surgery, but everything was successful.”
Eugene will require two weeks of resting and minimal work to overcome the surgery before he re-joins the squad and will look to be back for contention in Round 7.
