Socceroos forward Robbie Kruse to undergo ankle surgery, skipper Mile Jedinak sidelined

ROBBIE Kruse will undergo surgery on his injured ankle in the coming days, while skipper Mile Jedinak is a week-to-week proposition for Crystal Palace.

Korea Republic v Australia - 2015 Asian Cup: Final

ROBBIE Kruse will have surgery on his injured ankle in the coming days, as the post Asian Cup injury toll continues to plague Socceroos.

Captain Mile Jedinak was ruled out of Crystal Palace’s Premier League draw with Newcastle United on Thursday, underlining the pain barrier he went through to last 120 minutes of the 2-1 final win over South Korea.

Russian based right-back Ivan Franjic, who limped off just after Kruse in the final, is still recovering from an adductor strain and still at least a month away.

Robbie Kruse is taken from the field injured during the Asian Cup final.

Kruse is the most serious injury, and after conjecture over the severity of the injury, is set to miss the rest of the German Bundesliga season.

The attacker will likely have surgery in Frankfurt and the diagnosis will be at least 12 weeks on the sidelines.

The Kruse injury was thought to be less serious but Bayer Leverkusen ordered him to have surgery after scans revealed that his strained ankle ligaments were severe.

While he did the injury on Socceroos duty, Bayer Leverkusen’s medical staff assumed control of the diagnosis in the ensuing days.

Robbie Kruse walks onto the ground after suffering a leg injury during the Asian Cup final.

Kruse returned to Germany last week and is understood to be gutted after working so hard to overcome a knee reconstruction to play a key role in Australia’s Asian Cup triumph.

“You get different timeframes from everywhere, but I’m expecting it to be fairly long,’’ Kruse told the Herald Sun last week.

“I’m waiting to hear from the Bayer Leverkusen docs.

“It looks like I’ll be out for a few months, so I’ll just have to deal with it.

“I didn’t get touched that hard, I just heard a pop and I thought it was the achilles.

“I didn’t even know he (Cha Du-Ri) touched me at all.’’

Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak is also battling an ankle complaint.

Jedinak, who failed a late fitness test before the Newcastle match, said he was still bothered my the ankle he strained in the January 9 win over Kuwait at AAMI Park, which saw him miss the next two games.

Ivan Franjic is another injured Aussie.

“After playing so many games in a short space of time I feel OK, there’s a slight bit of fatigue so I’m just managing that and seeing when I’ll be reintroduced to the squad,’’ Jedinak wrote in the Crystal Palace matchday program.

“I picked up an ankle injury in the opening game of the tournament and it’s a little bit of a slight issue but we’ll try and work through that.

“I’ve spoken to him (Alan Pardew) a couple of times and we exchanged text messages and well wishes throughout the Asian Cup, but I’m looking forward to getting back down to business in Beckenham and working with him.’’

Originally published as Socceroos forward Robbie Kruse to undergo ankle surgery, skipper Mile Jedinak sidelined