McCormack has returned to Villa after suffering a knee injury.
Central Coast Mariners manager Mike Mulvey has told Australia’s A-League website that Ross McCormack would be returning to Aston Villa after suffering a knee injury.
McCormack, 32, remains completely frozen out at Villa and it saw the versatile attacker move on loan to Melbourne City last season, after failing to earn his place back after a short spell with Nottingham Forest the season before.
He scored 14 goals in 17 games last season, and it tempted the Mariners to bring him back to the A-League for another season-long loan spell. He has scored just one goal in five games so far.
Now, he has suffered a knee injury that will require an assessment at Villa before determining whether he will return to Australia. The club are hoping he will report back to the Central Coast before Christmas.
“We’ve decided to send Ross back to Aston Villa to check in with a specialist,” Mulvey said. “We expect him back just before Christmas and the best situation we can see at this stage would be having Ross eligible for selection for our New Year’s Eve game against Perth Glory.”
McCormack joined Villa in the summer of 2016 as Roberto Di Matteo’s marquee transfer, completing a £12million move from Fulham. But the Scotland international did not get going, before falling out with new manager Steve Bruce.
The former Leeds United, Cardiff City and Rangers striker has 18 months remaining on his contract at Villa, in another example of a player on big money that the club are struggling to shift – with Micah Richards still on the books.
The extent of the injury remains to be seen, and whether or not McCormack will indeed return to Australia.
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