Hull Kingston Rovers forward James Donaldson has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2017 season after suffering a knee injury.
Donaldson, who is currently the club’s joint top try-scorer this year alongside centre Andrew Heffernan, injured his anterior cruciate ligament in the Good Friday victory over Featherstone Rovers, with scans earlier this week revealing the full extent of the damage.
Donaldson will undergo surgery on the injury in the coming weeks and will miss the remainder of the 2017 campaign, but is expected to be fit to return to pre-season training in November.
The blow of losing Donaldson comes as Rovers coach Tim Sheens welcomes back a host of key players into the fold for Saturday’s Challenge Cup tie with Leigh.
Maurice Blair, Jamie Ellis, James Greenwood, Ben Kavanagh, Shaun Lunt, Adam Quinlan, Liam Salter and Nick Scruton all return to Sheens’ 19-man squad as the Aussie shuffles the pack following the Easter Monday defeat to Toulouse.
Centre Thomas Minns is still not available for selection following a concussion, whilst Ben Cockayne, Chris Clarkson, George Milton, Will Jubb, Kieran Moran, Will Oakes, Liam Harris and Jake Butler-Fleming drop out of the squad.
