Ankle injury rules Jason Knight out of September World Cup qualifiers

Luxembourg's Marvin da Graça with Jason Knight of Ireland. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Derby County manager Wayne Rooney has ruled Jason Knight out of Ireland’s World Cup qualifiers by confirming the midfielder will miss “eight to 12 weeks”.

The 20-year-old has developed into a mainstay of Stephen Kenny’s team since making his debut in Wales last November and would be in line to start the September qualifiers.

Ireland travel to Portugal on September 1 before hosting Azerbaijan and Serbia searching for their first points of the campaign.

However, Knight will have to defy his manager’s prediction to recover in time for the international window, given the update he supplied about Knight’s ankle injury on Saturday.

The Dubliner has been unavailable for the Rams' two friendly games against Manchester United and Salford City since sustaining the injury in training.

"Jason will be out for eight to 12 weeks,” Rooney told the Derby Telegraph.

"He has rocked his ankle. Thankfully he doesn't need surgery but needs the time to make sure he gets his ankle strong again.

"Of course (it is a huge blow), everyone knows what Knighty brings to us, he is a fantastic player, great energy, and he will be a loss, but we have to deal with that."