Cardiff City defender Dylan Lawlor will be sidelined until after the November international break after suffering a hamstring injury, manager Brian Barry-Murphy has confirmed. The setback comes shortly after Lawlor had returned from a lengthy spell out with a knee problem, with Cardiff facing four games before the next international pause.
Lawlor's rehabilitation setback
Barry-Murphy expressed disappointment for the young defender, who had worked hard to regain full fitness following his previous injury. "Dylan's hamstring injury means he won't be back until after the international break," he said. "That's his timescale for now."
The Cardiff boss acknowledged frustration over the setback, particularly given Lawlor's injury history, but insisted the absence would allow the club to ensure proper rehabilitation before his return. "Very disappointing, because he's put so much work into coming back from the knee injury he suffered so long ago," Barry-Murphy said. "But this gives him a chance to do his rehabilitation properly, without rushing, and make sure that when he comes back, he's good to go again."
Knee discomfort persists
Lawlor impressed during an impressive campaign last season, featuring regularly for Cardiff, but his progress has been disrupted this term. "With young players, there are always different challenges that come along," Barry-Murphy said. "He had an incredible season last season, when he played so many games for us. This season, so far, that hasn't been the case. But if he does his rehabilitation in the way I'm sure he will, hopefully he can come back this time for the full season."
The manager revealed Lawlor had still been experiencing discomfort in his knee following his return, with the new injury offering an opportunity to address that issue. "The positive is that his knee hasn't been pain-free since the Ghana game for Wales," he said. "Even when he came back against Blackburn, he still had some pain in it. In the game against Watford, when he got injured, he wasn't totally pain-free or comfortable. So this five- or six-week period, however long it is, gives us a chance to really protect his knee, strengthen it and make sure that when he comes back from this hamstring injury as well, he's in a very positive position to be fit for the remainder of the season."
Regrets over workload
Barry-Murphy admitted some regret over the workload Lawlor was given immediately after returning from injury. Asked whether he had any regrets about playing the defender for 80 minutes against Blackburn before starting him again four days later, he said: "A little bit, yeah. In an ideal world, when something happens, hindsight is an easy thing. But he did a really good job against Blackburn and we wanted to give him some consistency. We needed him, really, so we were limited in the options we had. Will Fish had just come back from injury, so it is what it is now and we just have to move forward."
The club's head of medical, James, will oversee Lawlor's rehabilitation before the defender is handed over to Kevin Gibbins and his team to work towards a return to regular action.
