'Heartbreaking' - Bristol City star issues rallying play-offs cry after season-ending injury confirmed

Bristol City winger Mark Sykes has described his season-ending injury as “heartbreaking” in a new post on his Instagram account – and offered his team-mates encouragement as they chase a Championship play-off place.

Sykes suffered a quadriceps injury during the warm-up prior to last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers and the Robins have since confirmed via their own social media channels that the 27-year-old is “likely to be unavailable for the rest of the season”.

The loss of the Republic of Ireland international, who won the club’s player of the month award for March, will be a blow as the club work to cement their place in the top six over the final four matches of the season.

How Mark Sykes has responded to crushing injury blow

Sykes responded to news of his injury by posting an Instagram story on Thursday evening which confirmed the news, and which included a message summarising his own feelings about the injury while also offering some support to the squad ahead of what promises to be a tense run-in.

His story read: “Heartbreaking but hopefully lads can get the job done! Come on” with a heart emoji. It will be visible on his Instagram account until Friday afternoon.

Sykes has been one of the Robins’ best performers in recent months since extending his contract at Ashton Gate following a reported bid from Stoke City in the January transfer window, and his loss could prove to be a serious blow to Bristol City’s chances of securing a play-off spot. He has scored three goals and contributed three assists since returning from a hamstring injury in January, and scored in consecutive matches against Sheffield United and Norwich City in March.

Robins head coach Liam Manning said of Sykes’ injury: “It is not good. That is probably the season done for him. He pulled his quad, so we don’t expect to see him for a while.”

Bristol City set for tense play-off battle over final four matches

Sykes is now expected to miss the last four games of the campaign, starting with Friday afternoon’s showdown with Sunderland, whose own place in the play-offs is already confirmed.

He will also be unavailable for the away games against Luton Town, Leeds United and the season-ending home match against Preston North End on 3 May. It is unclear as to whether he stands any chance of being involved in a play-off campaign should the club qualify.

The Robins are currently on a three-match unbeaten streak, and only promotion-bound Burnley have been able to defeat Manning’s side over the last two months – but Sykes has been a major contributor to the team’s charge up the table and his loss could make life considerably more difficult during the run-in.

Bristol City are presently fifth in the Championship table, with a four-point cushion standing between them and West Bromwich Albion, Millwall and Middlesbrough just outside of the play-off places.

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