Surbiton and Great Britain’s Brendan Creed sidelined with ACL injury

Great Britain Hockey have been dealt a major blow ahead of the Olympic qualifiers, as well as Surbiton’s domestic and Euro hopes, after Brendan Creed was ruled out with a long-term injury.

Creed, 26, ruptured his ACL during Surbiton’s successful weekend at the Euro Hockey League in Barcelona.

The defender was forced off the field after aggravating his right knee during Surbiton’s opening win against hosts Real Club de Polo.

The domestic champions qualified for the Final8 at Easter with a convincing win over Dinamo Kazan as they joined Surbiton women at next year’s tournament, which will be dual gender for the first time.

Creed found out the extent of his injury this week, with GB men travelling out to Spain for games ahead of their two-legged qualifier against Malaysia in November.

“I’ve had a dream since day 1 in my career and that dream is still there,” he wrote on social media.

“It may be more difficult to get there but what’s life without a challenge or two. I’ve always been a dreamer and sports is for dreamers.

“I want to be back; I want to be physically better and I want to be more mentally robust. All these things are in my control and so the road to recovery begins… LETS GET IT!”

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Tagged Brendan Creed, Great Britain, Surbiton