MICHAEL Forbes has returned to West Ham United after his loan spell at Colchester United was cut short by a hamstring injury.
The 20-year-old defender, who joined the U's on loan from the Hammers near the end of the January transfer window, has already undergone surgery on the injury, which he suffered while playing in an in-house training game at Colchester.
Forbes will now undergo his rehabilitation at West Ham, following the setback and it could mean that Frankie Terry, who was due to go back out on loan, could now remain at the JobServe Community Stadium for the remainder of the campaign.
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Colchester head coach Danny Cowley said: "It's just really unfortunate.
"He ruptured his hamstring in training and unfortunately, he's had to have an operation so it's really disappointing news.
"It's tough luck on Michael, as he'd only just come back from the other hamstring, so he hasn't had much luck at all.
"He did it in an in-house game that we had.
"We were really looking forward to working with him.
"We're really thankful to West Ham for loaning him to us.
"He had the operation last Saturday and he's just starting the very early part of his rehabilitation."
Prior to joining Colchester, defender Forbes had spent the first half of the season on loan at Bristol Rovers, before his spell at the League One side was cut short due to a hamstring injury.
The Northern Ireland international made 12 appearances with the Pirates with seven of them coming in League One, with two of them starts.
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Forbes has been at West Ham's academy since the summer of 2020 and signed his first professional contract with them, two years later.
He agreed a new deal with the Hammers until June 2026, in the 2023/24 season.
