Hibs star Martin Boyle candidly opens up on 'really bad stage in my life' after mind-blowing realisation

The 2022 Qatar World Cup should have been a moment to celebrate for Hibs star Martin Boyle.

However, due to a knee injury, he was forced to miss out. Despite being born in Scotland, Boyle represents Australia on the international stage. He won his first cap for the Socceroos in 2018, having made 28 appearances for them since then.

Recently, the 30-year-old has opened up on the injury and the mental struggles that came with it. He stated that, during that period, he was in a ‘really bad stage’ in his life and that he ‘tried everything’ to be fit in time for the World Cup.

Speaking to Hibernian Quarterly, Boyle said: "I went through a really bad stage in my life that I haven't really opened up about. I was struggling badly, but I hid it quite well because I am quite chirpy around the place. "But I wasn't in a good place, I wasn't myself and my wife took the brunt of that. But she supported me and I spoke to a few people to get me through it. The amount of things I got done to my knee, or the amount of things I did to try and play through it, was insane.

"It was a lot. I tried everything and it just wasn't to be. In the end, I went in for the surgery hoping to be done and be back playing in six weeks. Then you wake up and you have the doctors and surgeons telling you they have fully reconstructed your knee.

"My cruciate wasn't stable from an injury that was seven years old. It was mind-blowing and I didn't react that well to it. It was tough, it was really tough."