St. Patrick's Athletic suffered a double injury blow last Friday night when both Mark Leech and Gary Dempsey suffered leg breaks.

The duo look set to be sidelined until July at the earliest, which will come as a massive blow for the Saints. Dempsey is a key midfield player, while Leech has showed his potential by scoring two goals so far this season.

Dempsey suffered a bad tear to ligaments on his ankle and sustained a broken fibula. An operation involving corrective surgery was required and it is expected that he will not be back in action until July or August. Mark Leech received a break just above his right ankle which also required surgery and is expected to have a similar recovery period.

St Pat’s club physio Mick Spillane commented “in my 20 years of sports experience I have never encountered two lower leg breaks in the same game and from the same team, it is highly unusual and very unfortunate”.