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Breaking: Lukas MacNaughton Shocks Fans with Surgery Revelation – Out Indefinitely with Devastating ‘Long-Term’ Injury
During Thursday’s matchday minus two media availability, head coach of Nashville SC Gary Smith provided an update on defender Lukas MacNaughton.
The center back appeared to get his left leg stuck underneath him during a challenge, and he limped off hurt in the 51st minute of last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Inter Miami CF. After receiving intensive care, he was stretchered off. Smith said after the game that although preliminary assessments suggested nothing was broken, he would require additional evaluation and x-rays when he got home.
It seems like MacNaughton’s injury is almost at worst-case status right now.
Tuesday was Lukas’s operation day. Without getting too specific, Smith informed reporters that his physical condition ended up being really challenging, as you may expect if he’s having surgery. “It’s challenging to estimate the time frame right now, but Lucas will likely have a long-term injury.”
This year, MacNaughton’s injury is the most recent in a run of first-choice player injuries for Nashville. With Jack Maher out of favor and Walker Zimmerman missing eight of Nashville’s first twelve games due to injury, the Canadian international has been instrumental in the team’s early success.
Smith will be without his preferred center-back combination for the foreseeable future due to the loss of MacNaughton, even though Zimmerman is back in training and scheduled to play against San Jose on Saturday.
Jack Maher is the most obvious choice in MacNaughton’s absence. Up until the end of the previous season, Maher was Zimmerman’s preferred partner and has been a starting option for Nashville for the past few seasons. Josh Bauer may stick beside Zimmerman as he has started Nashville’s previous three games, seemingly surpassing Maher in the depth chart. As a depth option prior to the season, Brent Kallman is the last healthy center back on Nashville’s senior roster.
On Saturday, Nashville SC and San Jose Earthquakes will play at Geodis Park. They have only gained seven points from their first eight games, thus this Saturday’s game is crucial for their season.
