Stephen O'Donnell, pictured signing for Finn Harps, is out for the season.
By Aidan O’Donnell
FINN Harps received a devastating blow this with the news that Stephen O’Donnell will be sidelined for the rest of the season after it was confirmed that the influential play-maker has suffered a tear on his cruciate ligament.
The attacker, who hasn’t featured in the last two games, went to Dublin on Monday to find out the severity of what was thought to be just medial ligament damage sustained to his left knee, only to receive the worst possible news.
The scan at the Sports Surgery Clinic revealed a tear of the cruciate, a tear of the meniscus and grade 1 medial ligament damage. It’s a major setback for the influential attacker, who has endured a nightmare campaign to date.
He missed the league opener due to suspension and was forced off early in each of the next two games and didn’t feature at all in last weekend’s double-header against Wexford Youths and Mayo League, respectively.
Speaking to the Donegal News on Wednesday evening, a dejected Felix Healy said it was a huge blow for both player and club.
“As you can imagine he’s gutted, like we all are,” said the Harps Director of Football.
“I just feel for Stevie because with a cruciate you can run and you don’t think anything’s wrong. He’ll be sidelined for six to eight months, so he is essentially out for the rest of the season.
“But, he’s lucky in a sense that he’s with the army – he’ll receive a fair bit of physical rehab with them and that will help with the recovery.”
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