YORK KNIGHTS have lost Matty English for the rest of the season, just days into his loan from Huddersfield Giants.
The forward had been hoping to debut for his new club against St Helens last Saturday, but was left in tears after injuring his knee in training, with scans revealing he has damaged his ACL.
Knights boss Mark Applegarth had been delighted to have landed long-term target English, who is off contract at the end of the campaign after having not been offered new terms by the Giants.
“It’s not a good one, unfortunately,” admitted Applegarth.
“We had a few concerns over it, but it’s looking like an ACL injury. I’m gutted for Matty.
“He trained fully at the start of the week, and then unfortunately, with nobody around him, his knee just went on him.
“I feel for him. We’ll get Matty right and make sure he’s looked after, and what a boost it will be when we finally do get Matty in a York shirt.”
English will now undertake his rehabilitation with York, whom reports suggest he is set to join permanently from 2027.
“When you sign a loan agreement to the end of the year, rightly so, the responsibility to look after the player is with whoever the player gets the injury with,” Applegarth explained.
“We’re grateful that Huddersfield have allowed us to have Matty until the end of the year. We’ll do the right thing by Matty and the right thing by us as a club.
“We’ll be taking care of Matty and making sure that he’s alright for sure. He won’t be back before the end of the year.
“The main thing is that mentally, we get Matty right.
“It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth for Matty coming on loan to a new club and then suffering an injury like that, but at the same time, we won’t be short-sighted just to get rid.
“We’ll invest some time into Matty, we’ll get him right.
“We signed Matty for the person he is as much as the player, and we’ll make sure he’s okay.”
There is better news for Jesse Dee, who is back in contention after an infection, whilst Sam Wood (illness) and David Nofoaluma (HIA) could also be set to return against Leigh on Friday.