Boss Roy Keane says the club have been given no indication that midfielder Luciano Civelli’s knee injury threatens his career. The Argentinian, who is currently back in South America, has been sidelined since suffering the injury in his eighth game for Town last March and now isn’t expected to return until early next season.
Keane says he has received no suggestion that the 23-year-old’s injury is career-threatening: "Not really, not from the medical staff. The boy had a nasty injury. Without going into the ins and outs of it, it wasn’t just a standard cruciate injury, there was cartilage damage.
"He speaks to our medical staff on a daily basis. The reason he went back to Argentina wasn’t just the physical recovery but the emotional side as well. It’s tough for the boy.
"People who haven’t been at a professional club will never understand what a player goes through. He’s come here with big expectations, he’s had a taste of it and then gets a bad injury.”
Keane says the former Banfield man will be given every chance to make his return: "We’ve got a lot of time for him, the medical staff can’t speak highly enough of him.
"Are we worried long term? We’ve not thought about that too much. We want to give the boy a chance like anybody else and that is for us to give him the best medical treatment, and that’s what we’re getting.
"The reports we’re getting are that he’s enjoying it, the fact that he’s in his own environment. I’ve no problem with that if we think it helps the player’s recovery.
"If he’s back with us in pre-season, although even that might be a bit ambitious, August or September maybe, we’ll be delighted. As long as the boy makes it back.
"We’ve seen other players being out of the game for two or three years and they come back, so it can happen.”
Civelli joined the Blues in the 2009 January transfer window from Banfield in his home country for a fee of around £1.1 million.