Rangers' Lafferty facing four-week lay-off
Monday, July 18, 2011
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Kyle Lafferty will miss Rangers FC's UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie and Northern Ireland's next UEFA EURO 2012 test because of a hernia operation.
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Rangers FC striker Kyle Lafferty faces four weeks on the sidelines after discovering that he requires surgery for the hernia problem that forced him out of last week's pre-season training camp in Germany.
The Northern Irish international is due to have an operation in England and will not return to first-team action until the end of August. "Kyle is going for an operation for a hernia problem which will keep him out for three to four weeks," said Rangers manager Ally McCoist. "He will have the surgery next Tuesday down south and we hope everything goes well."
The injury makes the 23-year-old unavailable for the Scottish champions' forthcoming UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against Malmö FF or HB Tórshavn on 26/27 July and 2/3 August in addition to Northern Ireland's UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying match against the Faroe Islands on 10 August.
Northern Ireland's subsequent Group C game against Serbia on 2 September may also come too soon for Lafferty – who has registered eight international goals – to claim his 30th cap.
