Forest Green Rovers have been hit hard by a season-ending injury to their central defender Emeka Obi, who has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in their opening match against FC Halifax Town. Manager Robbie Savage confirmed that the 25-year-old will be out for six to nine months and is set to undergo surgery shortly before beginning his rehabilitation.
"It's not good news; our worst fears have come true, and it's going to be six to nine months," said Savage. "It's devastating for the boy, he has had a great start to his Forest Green career."
Despite the setback, Savage remains optimistic about Obi's future with the club. He pointed out that Emeka will return stronger after such an injury, drawing parallels to Sean Etaluku who came back from a similar situation last season.
"Emeka will come back stronger. Look at Sean Etaluku who missed large parts of last season; he has come back stronger and fitter as Emeka will," said Savage. "We are unlucky in that every injury we seem to get is a minimum of two to three months, but this one is more severe.
The club is now looking for a replacement for Obi after selling Laurent Mendy to Hearts and seeing Jordan Moore-Taylor and Ryan Inniss move on during the summer. Savage mentioned they have spoken to several clubs about bringing in a loan player, though no deals have been confirmed yet.
"We like two players in every position, and we play a back four so we like to have four centre-backs," said Savage. "Tate Campbell can play as a centre half; he has done it in his younger days and I thought he did really well."
Savage believes Tate Campbell is an option for the role but is also open to bringing in another player on loan. He emphasized that the support around Obi will help him recover both physically and mentally.
"We just have to make sure he is in a good place because at times when you have a big injury it can be tough mentally, so the support is around him and he will come back bigger, fitter, stronger," concluded Savage.
