MIDFIELDER ALAN BROWNE has emerged as an injury doubt for Stephen Kenny ahead of the Republic of Ireland’s European qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar in June.

The 27-year-old Cork man, who has featured in Ireland’s last 13 games, was seen leaving Loftus Road on crutches on Friday following Preston North End’s 2-0 victory over QPR.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe has since confirmed that Browne damaged his medial ligament during the game, but remains unsure as to the timescale of the injury.

Lowe said that Browne would not require surgery and that the injury was instead a “time-healer”, with Browne’s exact period of absence yet to be determined.

“Yeah, not good, Browney,” Lowe said following Preston’s 2-1 victory over Reading on Easter Monday, in which Ireland U21 striker Tom Cannon again found the net and after which Reading boss Paul Ince was sacked.

“He’s probably going to be a few weeks off. He has had a whack on his medial ligament and has had a scan. He won’t be with us. I don’t know how long it is going to be.

“It’s day to day. He is in a knee brace at the moment as a precaution. We will have to take each step and day as it comes, but he’s certainly not going to be available for the next two weeks.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to be from there. We will have to wait. He doesn’t have to get any surgery or anything like that, it is just a time-healer.

“We won’t rush him back unless we need to. I am gutted for Browney, and he was gutted, but we’ve just got to deal with it. It is what it is.”

Ireland face Greece in Athens on Friday 16 June and return home to play Gibraltar on Monday 19 June.