Farnham Town midfielder Keane Anderson faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

Anderson had to be substituted and helped off the field after sustaining a lower right leg injury in the first half of Farnham’s 2-0 pre-season friendly win at home to Badshot Lea.

He was attended to by Farnham’s physio, Claire Benton, and the on call paramedics at The Memorial Ground in the club’s medical room before leaving the ground with his family.

The Town’s health and wellbeing partners, Nuffield Health, worked closely with the club in the immediate aftermath to support Anderson and orchestrate scans swiftly to determine the severity of the injury.

Farnham have now confirmed that Anderson has suffered a severe multi-ligament right knee injury, including a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and further damage to the posterior cruciate ligament, lateral collateral ligament, anterolateral ligament and meniscus ligaments which will require surgical reconstruction, leaving Anderson sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Anderson joined Farnham earlier this summer from neighbours Aldershot Town on a one-year contract until May 2027.

The 22-year-old Surrey-born midfielder came through the youth ranks at Aldershot and enjoyed successful loan spells with Leatherhead, Kingstonian, AFC Totton, Sholing and Havant & Waterlooville early in his career before breaking through into the Shots’ first-team.

Anderson also enjoyed a loan spell at Torquay United last season before returning to Aldershot and enjoying an extended run in the Shots’ first-team.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m absolutely crestfallen at learning the severity of Keane’s injury,” said Farnham Town chairman Harry Hugo.

“After making the move from Aldershot, we were incredibly excited to watch Keane enjoy a breakthrough season with us in the National League South, and in the glimpses that we saw, we knew we had a real player on our hands.

“Injuries are a part of the game, and while it’s never good to see a player go down, it’s especially gut-wrenching for it to be a local young player with so much promise.

“From getting to know Keane, I know he’ll attack his rehab like a real pro. He’s got a great support network with his family and here at Farnham Town, and we’ll be doing everything we can to help him through what will undoubtedly be the toughest period of his career to date.”

Farnham have vowed to support Anderson throughout his rehabilitation.