AARON CONNOLLY appears unlikely to be available for Ireland’s games next month after an injury setback.
The Galway native has not been in Stephen Kenny’s plans in recent months amid injury problems coupled with inconsistent form and his last appearance in an Ireland jersey was at U21 level in the playoff games against Israel back in September.
There had been talk of a possible senior recall for the 23-year-old striker, after an encouraging start to his January loan move to Hull, as he scored a brace in last month’s 3-0 win over QPR.
However, Connolly missed this weekend’s 0-0 draw between Hull and Preston, with manager Liam Rosenior revealing on Saturday that the Ireland international was set to be out of action for around a month.
It is a blow for the side currently 13th in the Championship, with Jean Michael Seri also ruled out for a couple of weeks.
“It’s so unfortunate,” Rosenior told reporters. “For Aaron, it’s the injury he picked up when the ball hits him on his toe at Stoke and it looks like he will be out for a month.
“Mika’s got a groin issue which we didn’t know about until late on Thursday, early Friday morning, and that’s a frustrating one for us because he’s an outstanding player.
“But what I do have to say, is look at young Xavi who came in today and was absolutely magnificent.
“I expect him (Seri) to be out until the March international break, the same as Aaron. Hopefully, before, but that’s a realistic timescale. Aaron will stay here, he’s a massive part of things here and he’s loving it here. Everyone is loving having him around.
“We missed him today. I don’t like speaking about players that are injured or suspended, I like speaking about the group that I’ve got, I’ve felt up to that moment (in front of goal) it was a very good team performance today.”
Whether Connolly would have done enough to earn an Ireland recall is debatable, but with the player unlikely to feature between now and the friendly against Latvia (22 March) as well as the World Cup qualifier versus France (27 March), it now seems doubtful that an imminent international return will be feasible.
