Western United rocked by devastating injury blow to leading goalscorer

Liberty A-League Championship hopefuls Western United have confirmed star Hannah Keane is facing an extended period on the sidelines after suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Keane sustained a ruptured patellar tendon in her right knee during the Round 21 loss away to Western Sydney Wanderers and will undergo surgery next week.

The 2022-23 Liberty A-League Golden Boot winner had opened the scoring against the Wanderers on Saturday night before being carried off the field on a stretcher in the closing stages as she was transported to hospital.

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Scans have now confirmed the worst, with Western announcing “the injury will unfortunately mean that Hannah will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 Liberty A-League season and an extended period of football beyond that.”

It is a major blow for third-placed Western and last season’s Grand Finalists.

Keane has scored a team-high 10 goals this season and supplied four assists – the highest at the club in 2023-24.

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“Thank you so much to everyone who has reached out to me with the kind and supportive messages,” she said.

“Things like this are always tough, but injuries come with playing sport and now the focus is on doing everything I can to get back onto the field.”

Kat Smith’s Western are already without Adriana Taranto, who suffered a season-ending injury while Chloe Logarzo is also sidelined.