The Republic of Ireland has been dealt an injury blow ahead of this month’s Nations League relegation play-off against Bulgaria as Sammie Szmodics requires ankle surgery and has been ruled out until the summer.
The Ipswich Town winger is certain to miss the trip to Bulgaria on March 20th and second leg at the Aviva Stadium three days later but the 29-year-old could return for two friendlies in June and the World Cup qualification opener against Hungary on September 6th.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson names his squad next Thursday.
Ipswich’s Premier League survival is being undermined by injuries and the crisis shows no sign of easing, with defenders Axel Tuanzebe and Cameron Burgess added to a lengthy list of absentees that also includes Chiedozie Ogbene, who needed surgery on his Achilles tendon in November.
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“Sam Szmodics has gone for an ankle operation, unfortunately,” said Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna. “So he’s going to be out for an extended period of time. He originally suffered the injury in a tackle in the Fulham game, then had a recurrence of it in the Coventry game, then he had a recurrence of it after the Manchester United game.
“I don’t know the exact timescale, but it’s going to be a good number of weeks and if we see him again this season it will be in the last couple of fixtures.”
