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27th October 2024
10:53am GMT
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson will have woken up with a new worry this morning as Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna revealed the extent of Chiedozie Ogbene's injury after the attacker was stretchered off during their clash with Brentford yesterday.
Around the hour mark at the Gtech Community Stadium, Ogbene caught his foot in the turf and went down in agony.
Looks awful for Chieo Ogbene
— IrishPropaganda🇮🇪⚽️ (@IrishPropaganda) October 26, 2024
Terrible to see
Speedy Recovery 💚🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/9CMCF9Ogfo
After teammates Kalvin Phillips and Dara O'Shea checked on him, medical staff made their way onto the pitch and stretchered the 27-year-old off.
The winger's left leg appeared to be strapped up in a foam cast as he was being removed from the playing field, and the look on his face suggested he was in considerable pain.
Speaking after the thrilling game, which ended in a 4-3 win for the 'The Bees', McKenna said: "It looks serious, unfortunately. It looks like it could be an Achilles tear, so that would be devastating for him and for us.
"That's what I’ve been told at the moment. We hope that won’t be the case but I think that’s what looks most likely.
"Is it a six-to-nine-month injury? You’ll have to get a medical opinion on that but an Achilles tear is a big injury, so we hope that it won’t be that but I think the consensus at the moment is that it is."
“It is a bad one. We think he's torn his Achilles. We'll need to see, but he's going to be out for a period of time."
— IPSWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown) October 26, 2024
Kieran McKenna has confirmed that Chieo Ogbene suffered a significant injury in today's game.
Wishing you a full and speedy recovery, Chieo. 💙 pic.twitter.com/3RM2HzcMpv
It'll certainly give Heimir Hallgrimson a headache, considering Ogbene was one of his most impressive performers during the opening Nations League games.
Ireland's next game is at home to Finland a little less than three weeks away, followed by a difficult trip to Wembley to face England.
Ogbene, who transferred to Ipswich from Luton this year this year for €8 million, has made 24 appearances for the Republic of Ireland since making his debut in 2021, scoring four goals.
It wasn't all bad news for Ireland fans yesterday. Evan Ferguson got himself back on a Premier League scoresheet with a superb finish in Brighton's 2-2 draw with Wolves.
Fellow Irish international Sammie Szmodics scored a sublime goal to give Ipswich a hopeful lead early on at Brentford and, despite the late loss, looked like one of the sharpest players on the pitch throughout the game.
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