Republic of Ireland international midfielder Jack Byrne is set to spend a huge amount of time on the sidelines and has also been ruled out of his country's World Cup Qualifying games which will be played later this year against Serbia and Luxembourg. The midfielder suffered a serious back injury and has since undergone surgery but will not be able to recover in time to help his country on the football pitch at the qualifiers.

“It comes as disastrous and disappointing news for the talented midfielder who earlier this season made it clear that he would do everything he could to represent his team at the qualifiers and has been putting in some incredible performances for his club side APOEL since then.

He has been one of APOEL's best players this season following a run of good form and impressive performances and will be a huge miss for his national team side. As much as he will be a loss to the Republic of Ireland national team, he will also be missed by his club side APOEL after it was confirmed that he will no longer play any minute of football as far as this season is concerned. The former Shamrock Rovers midfielder has revealed that he is gutted and sad at the news, stating that he wished he was more careful and prevented himself from the injury which has now disturbed his plans and goals for the year.

“Byrne also said that even though he will not be able to feature for his national team or club side anymore this season, he will continue to support them in the best way possible and will also work hard towards recovering from the injury setback as soon as he can.

The estimated recovery period after his planned surgery is set at 3 months and that is a long time to stay out of playing football. The Republic of Ireland will also be without John Egan and CallumO'Dowda who have also both been ruled out of the qualifiers later this month.