Fleetwood Town striker Ronan Coughlan will be out for nine months after injuring his Achilles tendon in their league two defeat to Carlisle United on Saturday afternoon.
Coughlan went down after he fired in Fleetwood’s equaliser in the 70th minute, his 10th goal of the season, after receiving treatment on the pitch he was taken off on a stretcher and is now facing surgery.
He will now miss the rest of the campaign as well as the beginning of the 2025-26 season as he begins a lengthy recovery period.
The 28-year-old has scored ten goals in 27 games for 15th-placed Fleetwood this season making him the club’s top-scorer. Since his move from Waterford in 2024, the Irishman has been a huge success for Pete Wild’s side.
Coughlan’s move to England
Before making the move to Fleetwood, Coughlan was in inspired form for Waterford in Ireland’s second-tier. He scored 37 times in all competitions, breaking the SSE Airtricity First Division goalscoring and all-time Waterford record for the number of goals scored in a single season as the team earned promotion to the top flight.
As he continued to receive attention from clubs across the water, Coughlan’s consistency never dropped but the allure of EFL football became too much in January 2024 when he made the move.
Having played for Huddersfield Town’s youth side in 2017, the County Limerick native moved back to Ireland where he made his name as a top striker for Bray Wanderers, Sligo Rovers and St Patricks Athletic before moving to Waterford.
Fleetwood’s season so far
The Fishermen have struggled for consistency so far this season and fans will begin to worry as the manner of the defeat to relegation-threatened Carlisle at the weekend will set alarm bells ringing.
After losing three on the bounce, Mike Williamson’s Carlisle came to Fleetwood and secured a 2-1 victory, they dominated the goal chances and deserved a bigger victory.
Fleetwood welcome league leaders Walsall to Highbury on Tuesday night having hammered the Saddlers 6-2 earlier in the season.
They will however be looking for another of their strikers to step up for the rest of the season after Coughlan’s injury.