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Australia winger Martin Boyle’s World Cup place could be in doubt as he waits to discover how serious his shin injury is.
As reported by Football Scotland, the Hibernian forward is awaiting results of a scan on the injury he suffered against St Mirren at the weekend.
Boyle was forced off in the 54th minute of the match at Easter Road. He had opened the scoring from the spot in the 3-0 win just 10 minutes before going off.
Australia forward faces nervous wait on scan
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As confirmed by Hibs manager Lee Johnson, the Australia winger now faces an anxious wait on the extent of the injury.
Boyle looks certain to miss Hibs’ last three matches before the 2022 World Cup. They take on Aberdeen, Ross County and Kilmarnock before the break.
But the Scottish side will more than likely be without their Australian attacker for the three games.
“He’s had a scan and he’s currently in Manchester getting that scan reviewed by a specialist and a consultant,” said Johnson.
“I would hope that soon we will have a clear and acute diagnosis and prognosis on the injury.”
Boyle key to Australia World Cup qualification
Born in Scotland, Boyle is eligible to play for Australia through his extended family. He made his debut for the country back in 2018, appearing for just under 20 minutes in a friendly against South Korea.
Australian fans were then made fully aware of his talents just three days later. On his first start, the winger scored twice and registered an assist in a 3-0 win over Lebanon.
Unfortunately, injury ruled the attacker out of Australia’s AFC Asian Cup 2019 campaign.
The Hibs winger was then recalled to the Australia setup in 2019 after knee surgery. He now has 18 appearances to his name, scoring five goals along the way.
Three of those goals arrived in 2022 World Cup qualification. His first came against Nepal in the second round of qualifying for Australia.
Boyle then found the net against China and Oman in the following round. The attacker has played on both wings and in centre-forward and attacking midfield for his country.
Hibs forward back where he belongs
Starting out with Montrose in the Scottish Third Division, Boyle then spent three years at Dundee. This was followed by a loan spell back at Montrose.
But his next loan spell would change everything, with Hibs taking a chance on the forward after an initial loan move to Easter Road.
The following seven years were spent scoring plenty of goals for the Edinburgh-based outfit. That was until Saudi Arabian side Al-Faisaly came calling.
Boyle scored four goals in his 19 games for the club, but made a swift return to Hibs earlier this summer. He marked his return in superb fashion, netting a late equaliser from the bench against fierce rivals Hearts.
The attacker now has five goals and one assist since making a return to Scotland. He has made 277 appearances in total for Hibs, scoring 68 goals.
Both Hibs and Australia will be keen for positive news on the shin injury Boyle suffered at the weekend.
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