Ben Cabango will miss Swansea City's final two matches of the season and will be unavailable for Wales duty in the summer due to an ankle injury.
The defender was on the receiving end of a strong challenge from ex-Swan Jamal Lowe in the opening half of his side's 3-3 draw with Bournemouth on Tuesday night. You can read Russell Martin's assessment of the game here. Cabango continued to play through the pain barrier but was forced off shortly after half-time in the clash with the Cherries.
It has been confirmed the central defender will miss the Swans' games against Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers after suffering ankle ligament damage, with Cabango also set to be unavailable for Wales' World Cup play-off final against Scotland or Ukraine along with their four Nations League matches in the summer.
Read more: Everything Russell Martin said on Watford link, Nottingham Forest test and team news
“Unfortunately, Ben is done for the season,” said Martin. “He had a scan on Wednesday and it is not good news for us, or for Wales. He is out for the summer.
“He will be back with us for pre-season, although he might miss the first week or two. He will go to see a specialist on Tuesday.
“It’s an ankle injury and I don’t know how he played on with the extent of the injury. He has been outstanding and improved so much and was in a great place.
“It will be tough for him to miss out this summer because of what is at stake for Wales. It’s a blow for him, for us and for Wales, but he has to make sure he rests and recuperates and comes back fit and firing.”
Cabango has excelled under the current coaching staff after a mixed start to the campaign. Finley Burns is expected to return to the matchday squad when Swansea travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Manchester City loanee has not featured since being withdrawn at half-time in the 0-0 draw with Birmingham City before the most recent international break.
Meanwhile, head coach Martin has stated Swansea chiefs have agreed on their valuation of Joel Piroe. The striker is expected to attract transfer interest in the summer given his remarkable debut season in south Wales.
The Dutchman took his goal tally to 24 for the season with a brace against Bournemouth last time out. It comes amid interest from Leicester City who have been monitoring the former PSV Eindhoven forward this term.
Will Joel Piroe be at Swansea next season? Have your say in our comments section below.
But Martin says no player will be allowed to leave on the cheap in the summer. "If anyone scores that many goals, whether that interest goes into an actual offer, people will be aware it’s his first season at this level," said the head coach.
"There’s a lot of players who do it for one season and then struggle to maintain that. That’s going to be his next challenge for us. But we’re very comfortable.
"We have a valuation for Joel and I don't think that’s going to be flexible really. We can’t say we’re definitely not going to sell him, I can’t say that about any player because any player outside the top four in the Premier League is for sale at the right price.
"But it’ll take a huge sum of money to take him away from us. Joel’s not in a desperate rush to leave. I spoke to Joel’s agent after Tuesday night, he’s so happy here and loves his team mates and what we’re doing. That makes a big difference about how the boys feel about being here.
"The rumours are going to go crazy but my job is not to pay too much attention to that. I think he’s a young man who possesses brilliant technical ability. We have a really clear plan for the summer.
"We also know there needs to be some finance brought into the club. We have a lot of players out on loan and some guys here who have not played as much as they would have liked. We have to assess every option, try and help the ownership and Julian [Winter] utilise our money in the best way possible."
