Bruce McCandless is set to miss Ireland's World League round three tournament in Antwerp in June due to a fractured bone in his ankle.
The Banbridge midfielder has been an ever-present for the panel for the past two years and would have been a certainty to travel to Belgium for what is the key Olympic qualifier.
He suffered the injury two weeks ago in the Irish Senior Cup final from a tackle from Cork C of I's John Jermyn who was sin-binned.
Prognosis
Initially, McCandless played on but the swelling did not go down in the week after the tournament and a protective boot has since gone on. The prognosis is at least six more weeks on the sidelines, robbing Ireland of a key man.
The preparatory schedule has also been changed markedly. Ireland were originally banking on a round three trip to Argentina with a pre-tournament holding camp in the Netherlands. But, with Ireland being reallocated to Antwerp, they quickly scheduled a two-game series in France while they will also take on Germany in three Tests as part of their build-up in May.
On the domestic front, the action is confined to the semi-finals of the Irish Junior Cup with Three Rock Rovers taking on Annadale while Lisnagarvey face Monkstown.
