Essendon Football Club can confirm key forward Joe Daniher will miss the remainder of the season, with the 25-year-old experiencing a relapse in groin soreness.

Following ongoing monitoring and a thorough consultation process with specialists and the club’s medical and high-performance teams, the decision was made to manage the osteitis pubis injury, with surgery the likely outcome.

General Manager of Football Dan Richardson said both Joe and the club had made the decision with his long-term health in mind.

“Joe has experienced a return in symptoms over recent weeks, including some loss of power and strength in his groin area,” Richardson said.

“Last year Joe went through a conservative strength and rehabilitation program, which included rest, and given the nature of this injury, we needed to explore a number of injury management options.

“After thorough consultation, it has been determined that the most likely course of action now is to treat the osteitis pubis injury through surgery, which will be confirmed following further specialist consultation later next week.

“While it’s incredibly disappointing to lose a player of Joe’s calibre for the remainder of the season, the decision was made with the long-term health and welfare of Joe as the utmost priority.”

Daniher said he was disappointed to be sidelined for the remainder of the 2019 season.

“Clearly I want to be out there with my teammates, but with the key people involved in this process we made the decision to go down this path with surgery more than likely,” Daniher said.

“I’ve felt like I have done everything I could to get back to this point, but with this relapse, our options are now exhausted, which is obviously disappointing.

“We’ll know more next week in terms of the surgery, but my focus will now be on my rehabilitation process and supporting my teammates in any way I can off the field for the remainder of the season.”

The club expects Daniher to be available for the commencement of the 2020 pre-season campaign.