Hibs boss Lee Johnson 'could not believe' Martin Boyle's knee injury.
The Australian international was diagnosed with a discoid meniscus just a few days before his country's first World Cup match against France.
It is an issue that will keep the winger out of action for the rest of the season and Johnson has explained his surprise when he first heard the news
"There was fluid that showed up in and around the ACL area in the original scan but they believed that was part of the contact," he said.
"When they went in, the surgeon – one of the world’s top surgeons – was originally planning to shave the meniscus and it was going to be a three-week injury.
"So Martin was in my team for Rangers, then we get an email saying unfortunately it’s an eight-to-nine month injury.
"It could have been in the contact (in the St Mirren game).
"I find it hard to believe that it’s an ACL that’s been there for seven years.
"It’s been protected by his abnormal meniscus, that’s the experts’ best-informed guess."
As the Englishman mentioned, it was an injury that was hidden in plain sight.
Boyle elaborated on his knee issue recently.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: "Basically what I have is a discoid meniscus, where I've got a larger meniscus than normal.
"So that was keeping everything in place, it was keeping my cruciate stable, and long story short, I could have had this ACL injury for about six, seven years and been playing through it.
"It's a bit of a tricky one, I've been trying to digest it myself - you get put to sleep and you wake up and your whole knee's been reconstructed.
Despite the injury being discovered so late in the day that he had to get surgery in Qatar, the 29-year-old chose to remain in the country to cheer on the Socceroos.
And he was spotted on the pitch after Graham Arnold's side's 1-0 victory over Tunisia on matchday two.
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