SHAMROCK ROVERS WILL be without star playmaker Jack Byrne for the rest of their League of Ireland title run-in as they look to secure the six points that would seal their four-in-a-row.

The Hoops host Drogheda United this evening, and then travel to Cork City on Monday, knowing that maximum points would clinch the league with two games to spare.

But they will have to do so with Byrne, who has had surgery on the knee injury that has disrupted his season.

The Republic of Ireland international came off the bench for the final 17 minutes of Rovers’ 1-0 win against Shelbourne prior to the international break — his first league minutes since the end of June — but then suffered another setback in training.

“Jack Byrne has just had an operation so he’ll be out for the rest of the season,” Hoops boss Stephen Bradley told the club’s official website.

“He came through the Shels game okay, but he felt the injury again in training so we sent him back to London and the surgeon wasn’t happy, so they’ve operated on him.

“To be fair to Jack, he did everything possible to get back on the pitch, most other players might have opted for the operation very early on.

“But Jack was adamant he wanted to get back on the pitch and help the team even though he knew in his heart that he wasn’t 100%.

“With a player of Jack’s quality you give him every opportunity to do that, but it got to a point he just couldn’t function properly so unfortunately he’s now out for the last games.”