Republic of Ireland Jon Walters has seen his loan spell with Ipswich Town come to a premature end after the club confirmed he will be sidelined for six months with an Achilles injury.
The 35-year-old has returned to his parent club Burnley, and while surgery isn’t required, he isn’t expected to be fit to return to action until next year after scans showed a partial rupture of his Achilles.
Walters limped off minutes after going on as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s goalless draw with Bolton.
"I’m obviously gutted with the news," he told the club website. "That’s football though. That’s life I suppose as well and while I’m really disappointed, there are a lot of people worse off than me.
"I’ll work hard and get back to fitness as soon as I can. I’ve enjoyed being back here and I want to wish the Ipswich all the best for the rest of the season."
The news will come as a blow to Irish manager Martin O’Neill who will be without the services of the former Stoke City player for the must-win Nations League double-header at home to Denmark and Wales next month, as well as the friendly at home to Northern Ireland and away trip to Denmark in November.
Jon will return to @BurnleyOfficial to do his rehabilitation on a partial rupture of his achilles.
— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) September 26, 2018
We wish @JonWalters19 all the very best with his recovery. #itfc https://t.co/2NPCXhCb7j
Walters joined the Clarets for £3m in a two-year deal last summer, but was restricted to just five appearances with a knee injury and failed to force his way into Sean Dyche’s first-team plans.
He re-joined former club Ipswich on loan in August, making three appearances in the Championship.
Ipswich boss Paul Hurst admitted it was a mistake to risk the experienced attacker despite Walters’ insistence that he was fit to play.
"Clearly it was the wrong decision to involve him, and I’m the one who makes that decision I’ll be the first to say," he said afterwards.
"Was it a calculated risk? Genuinely the information we were getting said it wouldn’t make anything any worse."
Walters found himself in the headlines earlier this month when a recording of international team-mate Stephen Ward's version of his training ground bust-up with Republic assistant manager Roy Keane was made public.
He has made 54 senior appearances to date for his country and scored 14 goals in the process, but was unable to play a full part in the Euro 2016 finals because of injury.
