Noel Whelan has said that Ryan Edmondson faces a huge mental challenge after a disappointing ankle injury cut his loan spell at Aberdeen very short indeed, as quoted by Football Insider.

The striker joined the Scottish Premiership side with a view to getting some important game time under his belt with his chances at Leeds likely limited by the fact they are returning to the Premier League.

However, he has already returned to United with his ankle injury set to rule him out for four months and Whelan expects that the forward has been through the mill emotionally and it will now be the challenge in front of him to get through things in the next few months and bounce back.

The former Leeds striker said:

"You’ve got a contrast of emotions for young Ryan, unfortunately.

“The excitement of getting some first team football, that action that he needed and the progression that he needed, and now the injury.

“He’d gone to a fantastic club, into a good league there where he was going to be coming up against some very good players, and this is your worst nightmare as a footballer, getting an injury so early in the season, and a lengthy one at that.

“Sometimes you can deal with a niggle that keeps you out for a week, a spell of three to four months is a real killer. Psychologically for him, this is going to be his biggest hurdle. Can he get over the disappointment?”

The Verdict

It's a real tough blow for Edmondson who would have been really excited about this season.

It was a chance for him to get regular game time at a really decent level and instead he is now set to spend the first half of the campaign on the treatment table.

Hopefully we'll see him getting back up to speed by January, though, and he can look to get another move sorted - perhaps Aberdeen will still be keen when the next window comes around.