Jack Byrne is having surgery on a back injury today and will be sidelined for three months.
And it means the APOEL midfielder will play no part in Ireland’s opening World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Luxembourg this month.
Former Shamrock Rovers star Byrne has missed the Cyproit club’s last five games because of a disc problem.
He is still waiting for his stint at APOEL to take off having been rocked initially by Mick McCarthy’s sacking two days afer he made his debut.
Byrne will miss the rest of APOEL’s season and the Cypriot club said today: "Jack Byrne will undergo surgery in the afternoon to deal with a disc problem.”
The spokesman added: “The estimated recovery time is determined at 3 months.”
Because of his lack of minutes since making the move to Cyprus, Byrne may not have made Stephen Kenny’s final squad.
But he was in the shakeup and his absence is still a blow to the Ireland boss who is already without Sheffield United defender John Egan.
And James McClean is a major doubt after Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill revealed over the weekend that a foot injury will keep him out for four to six weeks.
