Further assessment has revealed Hawks defender Josh Gibson has ruptured his left pectoral muscle and will be sidelined for approximately ten weeks.??

Gibson sustained the injury in a marking contest during Friday night’s loss to Sydney, but was able to play out the match.??

After he experienced difficulty recovering from the game, the defender underwent scans yesterday that revealed a pectoral major tendon rupture.

Gibson will undergo surgery this afternoon to reattach the tendon to the bone.

Hawthorn GM – Football Operations Chris Fagan said Gibson remains upbeat about the layoff. ??

“This is obviously very disappointing for Josh but he’s a player of great character and will approach his rehabilitation with the highest level of professionalism to ensure he can have an impact in the back end of the season,” Fagan said.

??“Our initial thoughts were that Josh had heavily corked his shoulder as he still had full strength and movement during testing.” 

??“However further assessment unfortunately revealed the rupture and he’ll have surgery to repair that.”