Leckie has completely ruptured the medial cruciate ligament of the left knee with contusion to the surrounding bone and the prognosis is set to sideline him until the New Year. 
 
The one small consolation is that the extent of the damage could have been worse, with the results showing no harm to the 19 year olds anterior cruciate ligament.
 
The setback is a cruel blow for the Reds and Leckie, who has become one of the A-League’s most exciting young talents, having scored four goals from nine appearances this season.
 
“Obviously I’m a bit frustrated and devastated that I won’t be able to play for awhile now, but I guess injuries happen in football, so it’s something you’ve got to move on with and just try to get yourself back into the game as quickly as you can,” Leckie said.
 
“At first I didn’t think I’d done my medial, I thought I was fine because we did a little bit of testing on the sideline, it felt all good, and then as I walked back on the pitch my leg started collapsing in and that’s when I knew.”
 
The incident occurred in the opening 20 minutes of the Reds’ loss to Melbourne Victory last Friday night, Leckie’s knee buckling in a tackle from Victory defender and Sukha.
 
Leckie already had the knee heavily strapped after he triggered the injury at training prior to United’s win over Wellington Phoenix the previous week forcing him to miss that match.
 
But Leckie says he doesn't hold any grudges about Sukha’s challenge, after the speedster appeared to get the better of the Thai international.
 
“Obviously he was going for the ball but he probably wanted to go and knock me about as well. Unfortunately he was a bit late, maybe he thought he could have got to it, but I got ahead of him so it’s a tough one to call,” Leckie said.
 
Leckie will go in for an arthroscopy on Friday, with the date of his return to depend on the progress of his rehabilitation, although he is hoping to be back to play a major role in United’s run in to the finals.
 
“I’m just really looking at getting my knee right, getting back to playing for Adelaide and hopefully I can get back for the games before the finals and in the finals as well,” Leckie said. 
 
English born midfielder Joe Keenan, who made seven appearances for the Reds earlier this season as an injury replacement for Nigel Boogaard, has been brought back from Melbourne for an initial six week term to cover Leckie’s absence.