Linfield could lose Robbie McDaid for rest of season after another injury

Robbie McDaid had just returned after a serious knee injury

Linfield manager David Healy could be without star attacker Robbie McDaid for the rest of the season.

McDaid only returned to action in the last number of weeks following ten months out with a horrific cruciate ligament injury.

But the 27-year-old former Glentoran ace is set for another long spell on the sidelines after rupturing his Achilles.

It was while playing for the Swifts, Linfield’s second team, last week that McDaid, who was on the books at Leeds United, suffered the heartbreaking injury.

“Robbie played his second game for the Swifts and picked up a nasty (Achilles) injury which means he will be missing for the foreseeable future,” conceded Healy, who takes his League leaders to Seaview on Tuesday night for a rearranged match with Crusaders.

“He has put so much in to get him back over the past ten months, he is totally gutted.

“He was apologetic, when he certainly didn’t need to be.

“We will look after him as a club, but he will come back, there is absolutely no doubt that. The players and staff have already rallied around him, he’ll be back to be a big asset to the football club.”

McDaid joined Linfield from Big Two rivals Glentoran in the summer of 2022 following a free transfer.

He played in 40 matches for the Blues during his maiden season, scoring nine goals, before disaster struck with the devastating knee injury last February during a match against Carrick Rangers at Windsor Park.

Now he must undergo months of yet more rehabilitation before he can return to Linfield action.

McDaid’s latest injury adds to the number of Blues players out, with Joel Cooper and Chris Shields the big name casualties.

Healy admitted: “I think Joel Cooper will be