Central Coast Mariners striker Ryan Edmondson is set for surgery after suffering a shoulder injury in his side’s AFC Asian Champions League Elite loss to Johor Darul Ta’zim on Tuesday night.
Edmondson fell awkwardly on his right shoulder under contact from a Johor defender in the first half of his side’s 2-1 ACL Elite defeat to the Malaysian giants and immediately signalled to the sidelines for medical attention.
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Clutching his right collarbone, Edmondson was helped off the field with his arm supported by his shirt in a makeshift sling.
Addressing the media on Thursday morning, Jackson confirmed Edmondson’s injury would require surgery, with the expectation that last season’s Joe Marston Medallist would miss the remainder of the Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
“Ryan’s obviously suffered a big upper-body injury there on his shoulder,” Jackson said.
“We think that’s going to require surgery, and that’s probably him done for the season. That’s a massive, massive blow for us.
“It’s kind of been the story of our season this year, these kinds of injuries. It’s an injury where he fell on it, and you can’t legislate for that.”
Jackson also lost captain Trent Sainsbury and Mikael Doka to injury against Johor on a costly night for the reigning Isuzu UTE A-League champions, who are next in action away against Kawasaki Frontale in their final game of the ACL Elite league stage on Tuesday, February 18. Then, it’s back to Gosford where the Mariners will resume their Isuzu UTE A-League campaign against Western Sydney Wanderers on February 22.
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Jackson expects Sainsbury to recover in time for the Wanderers clash after being withdrawn with a suspected hamstring injury but the availability of Doka, who was withdrawn from the Johor clash as a concussion substitute, will be subject to advice from doctors under concussion protocols.
“Like I said after the game, I’m hoping Trent’s not too bad, and he’ll be available for Western Sydney Wanderers,” Jackson said.
“Then (with) Doka, we have to assess with the concussion protocol. You can never be too careful with these kinds of injuries, so he’ll be assessed by the doc, and if he’s not fit to travel, we’ll go through the protocols, the data and all things relevant to that.”
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The Mariners will definitely be without Edmondson as well as Brian Kaltak and goalkeeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen for the trip to Kawasaki; Kaltak will miss the fixture through suspension due to the accumulation of yellow cards – as will Peraic-Cullen who was sent off in the first half of Tuesday’s loss to Johor.
With the knockout phase of the ACL Elite out of Central Coast’s reach, Tuesday’s league stage finale against Kawasaki will be a test of the Mariners’ depth as Jackson looks to keep his side motivated to finish the competition on a high note while ensuring he has a strong squad available to resume the Isuzu UTE A-League campaign against the Wanderers Saturday week.
“We’ve got to be very mindful of minutes players have played as well, because we’ve got a really big game when we come back against Western Sydney Wanderers – and that’s a short turnaround,” he said.
“I think we arrive back on Thursday and then we play again on Saturday. It’s a very quick turnaround in that respect, and we’ve got big ambition in the league to push on for those final places, so it will be about me managing the team, but also putting a team out there where we want to finish the competition strongly.
“We know we’re going to come up against a really formidable opponent again in Kawasaki, they’re up there in the league – I think they’ve won their last four games in the Champions League, flying high in this competition so it’s going to be a tough ask.
“But again, I’ll be asking for that level of commitment from the players and for sure, it will be an opportunity for some players to showcase their talent and push for a place when we get back in the A-League.”
