Connacht may have lost their Champions Cup hero for the rest of the season

Connacht are deep in the foul stuff and there is no obvious way out.

Heading into this afternoon's Guinness PRO12 game against Ospreys, Connacht had one fit outhalf and even that was questionable. Jack Carty was patched up and sent out to take on the Welsh side at Liberty Stadium. He did not finish the game and he will be doing well to return again this season. The Roscommon native crumpled in a heap during the first half and had to be replaced by scrum-half Caolin Blade. Blade had been drafted in as an emergency outhalf after injuries befell Marnitz Boshoff and Craig Ronaldson. Sky Sports, who were broadcasting the afternoon kick-off, reported during the second half that Carty had suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury and would be out for 'six to nine weeks'. If it is a bad ACL injury, even nine weeks is optimistic. [caption id="attachment_108628" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Sean O'Brien gets Connacht's only try in Wales.[/caption] It is three weeks since Carty proved the Connacht hero by slotting over a last-ditch conversion to give them a crucial Champions Cup win over Wasps. Connacht, who lost heavily to Ospreys, face Zebre at The Sportsground next week before an away date with Toulouse. They can still reach the Champions Cup knock-out stages but will have to do so without their first, second or third choice No.10. Blade or Tiernan O'Halloran may now be drafted in as emergency cover after head coach Pat Lam's son, Mitch Lam, was refused permission by the IRFU to come in as temporary cover... at no charge. To make bad matters even worse, flanker Jake Heenan went off injured after only 12 minutes and is another injury doubt for Connacht's upcoming games. It is tough at the top.