Lincoln City fans have been left reeling with the news that captain Tendayi Darikwa will miss the 2026/27 season after suffering an ACL injury against Portsmouth.
The 34-year-old pulled up injured early in the second half this weekend, and immediately fans feared the worst. Tom Shaw suggested in his post-match press conference that it must be something serious, given Tendayi is known for not coming off.
That’s now been confirmed, and fellow head coach Chris Cohen has admitted the skipper will be a ‘huge loss’ as City navigate the Championship.
“Yeah, the whole football club, the players, the staff, myself and Tom, were devastated to hear the news,” he told Imps+
“When you see the mechanism and you see it happen, you fear for the worst. When you get inside and you speak to Tendayi, you fear for the worst. Unfortunately, all of our fears were confirmed.
“He’s going to be a huge loss. He’s still going to be so important to the team being around the place. He’s still going to be the captain of the team. I’ve been in the position as a player myself multiple times, so I know how he’s feeling.
“The club will support him the way they have with James Collins over the last few months and give him the best care and attention that he can get. We look forward to having him back, but we know that the process is going to be a long one.”
James Collins suffered his ACL injury back in December, and he’s unlikely to be back before this Christmas. He’s recently completed his UEFA A license, and it seems as though helping out behind the scenes is also on the cards for Tendayi, despite it being early days in terms of the news.
“I’m just trying to think back over the last three years of working with him, when I played with Tendai, how many times I’ve seen him stay down,” said Chris.
“He is tough as they come in the way that he plays. You just know from being involved in so many football matches that it wasn’t a good one. As I said, we’re absolutely devastated for him. We’ll be here for him and he’ll still be a big part of it.
“He’s going to help me and Tom with some other stuff around the club and he’ll still play a huge role. Every footballer wants to play football and, unfortunately, for us as a team, we’ve lost an incredibly important part of Lincoln City.”
Talk will almost certainly turn to Darikwa’s replacement, both as on-field captain and at right back. Josh Honohan would seem poised to take over in defence, while Connor McGrandles would be a likely alternative on-field captain, especially as Adam Jackson, another natural pick, is unlikely to play regularly.
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