Hull FC head coach John Cartwright has confirmed a season-ending injury for Ligi Sao while offering updates on a handful of other members of his squad.

Hull Live broke the devastating news on Sunday that the prop ruptured his patella tendon in last Friday’s defeat to Wigan Warriors. Facing at least nine months on the sidelines, Cartwright has offered his support to the 32-year-old, who was operated on this Tuesday morning.

The player is now set for a lengthy recovery and rehab process, with Cartwright also giving updates on Jed Cartwright (hamstring) and Zak Hardaker (groin). On a lighter note, Amir Bourouh (HIA) and Jack Ashworth (illness) will be fit to play at Huddersfield Giants this Friday night, as will John Asiata, who suffered a knock to his bicep last week, but is okay to feature.

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Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Cartwright said: “The week before at Catalans was costly. I was really hoping to go into the Wigan game at full strength. We had four big losses out of the team, and then Ligi went down. I’m really disappointed for him. That hurt us.

“Ligi has been very good for the club for a long period of time. He’s tough, and he’s a good leader. He’s going to be sorely missed. It’s very unfortunate for both Ligi and the team, but that’s footy, and we’ve just got to soldier on. He got operated on today (Tuesday), and he’ll be out for a minimum of nine months.”

On Cartwright (Jed) and Hardaker, Cartwright said some progress has been made, but no timeframe is yet available on their returns, with the worst-case scenario for Hardaker being six weeks. He continued: “They’re a little bit better than expected. They’re back a little bit earlier based on the original prognosis of their injury. It’s a little too soon to say when they’ll be back, but we’re hoping it’ll be sooner rather than later.”

And on Bourouh and Ashworth, Cartwright explained: “They’ll both play this weekend. Jack was crooked (ill) on the back of a head knock, and Amir has passed his test. They’ve both trained strongly today, and they’ll both be out there on Friday.”

Hull also remain without Davy Litten (MCL), Jack Charles (ankle), Matty Laidlaw (MCL), and Roman Dawson (ACL). Elsewhere, Hull Live also understands Ryan Westerman is recovering from an ankle knock, with the teenager dropping out of the 21-man squad last week.

However, while pressing for results and performances, Hull’s injury situation is giving opportunities out elsewhere, with Will Hutchinson making his Super League debut last week.

“Everyone gets these seniors at some stage,” Cartwright added. “We’ve got them early, and we’ve got a bad one early too, but the other boys are hopefully short-term.

“It gives other guys in the squad a chance, and it gives us time to have a look at them, but in a competition like this, you don’t get time to sit back and watch—you’ve got to be competitive in every game and in every week. It’s a really important one for us this week.”