Ikonomidis ruled out for up to a year with devastating knee injury

Chris Ikonomidis will face between nine and 12 months on the sidelines after Perth Glory confirmed their attacker has suffered an ACL injury.

The 12-cap Socceroo sustained anterior crucial ligament damage 15 minutes after coming off the bench in the Premiers’ 2-2 draw against Melbourne Victory at HBF Park last Saturday.

Ikonomidis has featured in 12 matches during the 2019/20 season, starting nine times and scoring three goals as the Premiers recovered from bottom of the ladder after Round 7 to rise to third place.

The 24-year-old played a key role as Glory lifted their first Hyundai A-League silverware in 2018/19, scoring nine goals in 20 appearances, and was awarded Young Football of the Year for 2019.

“Obviously we’re all hugely disappointed for Chris,” said Glory Football Director Jacob Burns.

“It’s always difficult when a player suffers a serious injury, but we have an excellent medical team here at the club who will go above and beyond to provide him with all the assistance and support that he needs to make a full recovery.”

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Head coach Tony Popovic has leaned on Joel Chianese to partner Bruno Fornaroli and Diego Castro in attack in recent weeks, while Nick D’Agostino made a goalscoring impact in Castro’s absence against Victory in Round 17.

Perth welcome Wellington Phoenix to Western Australia on Friday, 7 February, before their AFC Champions League campaign gets under way.

“The club will provide regular updates on Chris’ progress via all its media platforms,” said Glory CEO Tony Pignata.

“We look forward to seeing Chris back in action and back to his best sooner rather than later.”

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