SOCCER:Republic of Ireland midfielder Steven Reid faces a lengthy extension to his period on the sidelines and could miss the rest of Ireland's European Championship qualification campaign after it was confirmed by his club yesterday that he must undergo surgery for a cruciate ligament injury sustained at the end of last week.

The 25-year-old suffered the injury in training on Friday and was immediately brought to Leeds for a scan which confirmed the seriousness of the problem. Reid was given the diagnosis on Saturday morning and is now resigned to at least six more months of convalescence.

"From the moment I went down I was expecting the worst, to be honest, so it didn't come as a surprise when they told me," said the Blackburn Rovers player in an interview with the club's website yesterday.

"The only positive thing is that the injury isn't what it was 15 years ago. It regularly ended players' careers back then, whereas the surgeon who will operate on me in two or three weeks has performed the operation successfully many times.

"The recovery period is still normally six to nine months, but I'm hoping for the best with six bringing me more or less up to the start of preseason, which is the target for me now."

This latest injury comes just as Reid was on the verge of returning from the back problem that has kept him out of action since Ireland's opening European Championship qualifier against Germany last September.

That was just his fourth competitive game of what promised to be a very big campaign for a player who had been in outstanding form last season and who had signed a four-year deal with Rovers during the summer.

"The recovery (from the stress fracture) had been going well and I was really looking forward to getting back," he said. "To be honest, I didn't think I was that far off the first team, but now I have to start all over again and really work my socks off just to be involved in preseason, it's hugely frustrating."

Fellow Ireland international Jonathan Douglas suffered the same injury during his time at Ewood Park and Reid admitted that he had already been in contact with the Leeds United midfielder to discuss the implications of the injury.

"I've spoken to Dougy and Tim Cahill, who is another friend to have been through this . . . I imagine over the next few days I'll be talking to everyone I can think off who can tell me what to expect during the recovery time, after that it'll just be down to me."

The injury is a significant blow too to Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, and may not be entirely unconnected with his current interest in bringing the club's former midfield star, David Dunn, back to Ewood Park.

"It's a major blow to lose Steven and we obviously feel for him," said Hughes. "He was very close to being back in action, a couple of reserve games and he would have been available again, so it makes it very difficult for us and possibly affects what we are going to do in the transfer window."

Kevin Doyle, meanwhile, concedes that it is unlikely that he will be fit for the trip to San Marino despite better-than-expected results from the scan he underwent on a hamstring injury picked up in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Everton.

"From what the physio said to me this morning he reckons it will be four weeks before I'm in a position to play again, and if I don't play for Reading before then there's no way I'm going to get to go away with Ireland," the striker told The Irish Times last night.

"For the moment, though, I'm not ruling anything out. I've recovered quickly from hamstring injuries before and I'll be in a better position to say how I'm fixed this time after I'm running again, which should be in seven to 10 days. The quicker I get to that stage at least then the better chance I have of completing the recovery in time for the trip away."

What is certain for Doyle is that he will miss the next few Reading games, his first lay-off at the club for comfortably more than a year.

"Yeah, I've started every league game since four or five into last season and it's a pity to see the run ended but I can's complain really. Not many players get to go that long without an injury that forces them out of at least one game, and even this is only a muscle problem, it's not the end of the world, and hopefully I'll be fully back from it within a matter of weeks."