West Ham confirm Ziu ACL injury

West Ham have confirmed that Republic of Ireland defender Jess Ziu is facing a lengthy lay-off after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury while on club duty.

Ziu, who moved to the London side from Shelbourne in March, picked up the injury in their FA Continental Tyres League Cup match against London City Lionesses on 2 October.

She was subsequently withdrawn from Vera Pauw’s Irish squad for the World Cup qualifying play-off against Scotland on Tuesday with Shels defender Keeva Keenan drafted in.

"Jess sustained an injury in the second half of our match against London City Lionesses," West Ham sports therapist Jackson Bradley told the club website.

"It became apparent that the injury was a serious one because of the amount of pain that she was in. Jess was stretchered off and a subsequent scan revealed that she had sustained an ACL rupture injury.

"Jess is now seeing a specialist ahead of surgery, and we will then have a clearer picture around her timeline of recovery."

Ireland face Scotland on Tuesday evening at Hampden Park hoping to book a place at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

A victory may suffice, but will depend on other results favouring them too.

Follow Scotland v Republic of Ireland via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, or listen to live radio commentary on RTÉ 2fm's Game On.