Loughgall face wait for injury update on midfielder who left Lakeview Park on crutches after defeat to Crusaders

​The 22-year-old was an ever-present in the Villagers side that won the Championship title last season and has again been a consistent performer this term, playing in 26 of their 29 league matches during a superb return to top-flight football.

Any lengthy absence for Kelly would hamper their hopes of breaking into the top-six and securing a European play-off spot, but Smith says the next few days will reveal the extent of his issue.

"He’s hurt the back of his knee and it’s actually swollen up quite a bit,” he said. “The next two or three days we’ll probably know more and time will be the most important thing.

"He’s left on crutches and it’s not looking great at the minute.”

Smith was left frustrated that his side left empty-handed despite creating the “best opportunities in the game”.

"I’m really, really frustrated,” he added. “Conditions were poor but it’s the same for both teams and I thought we did enough to get something from the game, which is frustrating.

"We set the players up really well from corner kicks, analyse what they are doing and we spoke about short corners and we dealt with it. One lapse of concentration – they put in a nothing ball and we don’t even know who has scored it.

"I thought we did try and play – certainly a lot more than we did on Tuesday night (against Newry City) – and we still come away with nothing.”