Ireland's injured Newcastle keeper Elliot out of Euro 2016
REUTERS - Ireland's Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot has been ruled out of Euro 2016 after injuring knee ligaments in their 2-2 draw with Slovakia in a friendly international on Tuesday.
Elliot went off having suffered the injury making a diving save after 14 minutes in Dublin and his Premier League club said in a statement he would be ruled out for "a number of months".
"Newcastle United can confirm that goalkeeper Rob Elliot has sustained an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament," the club said on their website (www.nufc.co.uk) on Wednesday.
Ireland manager Martin O'Neill, whose team are preparing for the June 10-July 10 European Championship in France, offered a gloomy assessment of 28-year-old Elliot's injury after the game.
"He's not great. He's got a serious knee injury. It's a real disappointment and obviously a dampener on the evening, particularly when he is getting his career together," he told reporters.
"He was going really well at Newcastle and looking forward to the game and coming here into the squad with a lot of confidence. I have just spoken to the doctor and he's not happy."
Ireland have been drawn with Belgium, Italy and Sweden in Group E at the Euros while second-bottom Newcastle face a battle to stay in the top flight with eight games remaining.
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Patrick Johnston and ken Ferris)