Central Coast Mariners head coach Mark Jackson suspects striker Ryan Edmondson suffered a collarbone fracture in his side’s AFC Asian Champions League Elite clash with Johor Darul Ta’zim.
But on a night when three players were withdrawn with potential injuries, Jackson did provide positive updates on both captain Trent Sainsbury and star creator Mikael Doka who he suspects will both recover quickly after being taken off as “precautions” in the 2-1 defeat at Industree Group Stadium.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
MATCH REPORT: Mariners suffer triple injury blow in Champions League defeat to Malaysian powerhouse
Edmondson fell heavily on his right shoulder in the first half against the Malaysian powerhouse and after immediately calling for medical attention, was brought off the pitch with his arm supported by his shirt in a makeshift sling.
“Yeah, I think it might be his collarbone (or) his shoulder,” Jackson said post-game.
“I think there might be a fracture in there, potentially, but we don’t know until we have a scan or an x-ray. So we don’t know for sure.
“I’ll always be optimistic with things, but the pain he’s in is not good. I think he knew straight away. “
Sainsbury was the next to succumb to injury on a costly night for the Mariners. The Socceroo pulled up after playing a pass out of defence and went to ground clutching his left hamstring.
The 33-year-old missed the first eight rounds of the Isuzu UTE A-League season following surgery on a torn pectoral muscle but despite being taken off in the first half of Tuesday’s ACL Elite defeat, Jackson eased fears of a potentially serious injury, telling reporters he fully expected Sainsbury to be available for selection in the Mariners’ next league fixture against Western Sydney Wanderers on February 22.
“Trent, I don’t think is too bad,” Jackson said. “it’s just a bit neural so I don’t think he’ll be an issue. It was more precautionary with Trent.”
As for whether Sainsbury would need a scan to confirm the extent of the injury, Jackson answered: “I don’t think so. We’ll assess it tomorrow but I don’t think so.
“We’ll get into the building tomorrow morning and we’ll have a look at it and see where we stand, if it needs a scan, just to justify what we’re thinking. But I fully expect him to be back and ready for the Wanderers game.”
The Mariners looked set to see out the remainder of the game without any further injury concerns before Johor striker Bérgson struck Mariners star Doka in the head from close range with an attempted cross-field pass.
Doka remained on the ground for an extended period before being helped off by medical staff, and was replaced as a concussion substitute late in the second half.
But, like Sainsbury, Jackson was confident the Brazilian would bounce back quickly – however his availability for next week’s ACL Elite clash with Kawasaki Frontale, as well as Central Coast’s next Isuzu UTE A-League fixture against the Wanderers, would come down to whether Doka is diagnosed with concussion and enters concussion protocols.
“He’s fine, he’s out there signing autographs with the players for the fans and stuff like that,” Jackson said.
“He’ll be assessed by the doc, and when things happen like that you’ve got to be governed by the medical staff. So we’ll be governed by that, and we’ll see where he is, and assess him in the morning whether it was a concussion or whether it’s not.
“It was just a precaution that he came off, we’ll have to wait and see.”
