India suffer a blow, Robin Singh out of SAFF Cup due to injury

Indian suffered a blow ahead of their SAFF Cup semi-finals on Thursday against Maldives as Robin Singh was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to knee injury.

The Bengaluru FC striker failed to recover from the knee injury he suffered during India's 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in their opening match on December 25.

Robin, who has been released from the squad, had scored both of India's goals and he was stretchered out in the 75th minute after scoring his second goal. He did not play India's second group match against Nepal which the home side won 4-1 to book a semi-final berth.

"Yesterday's (December 28) MRI revealed that his knee problem is a bit more serious that we had expected. The doctors have advised us that he will need 10 days rest before undergoing another MRI," said coach Stephen Constantine.

"It's a blow and a loss for us. He had started to score for the national team on a regular basis and is such a hard working guy," added the head coach.

As per the guidelines of the SAFF Cup, India will not be allowed to register any replacement for Robin. He was earlier expected to continue in the tournament. A day prior to India's match against Nepal, Constantine had said that Robin's injury was not a serious one and he will be back.