Goalkeeping great Kevin Keelan today sent injured Robert Green best wishes for a speedy recovery - and described the City star's World Cup exit as “an absolute tragedy”.

Goalkeeping great Kevin Keelan today sent injured Robert Green best wishes for a speedy recovery - and described the City star's World Cup exit as “an absolute tragedy”.

The Canaries' appearance record-holder, living in Florida, missed TV coverage of last Thursday's England B international against Belarus, and was shocked when he later learned of Green's misfortune.

He said: “I really feel for Robert - to have an opportunity like this taken away from him is awful. Please send him my humble commiserations. I wish him all the best for a speedy recovery.”

Keelan's goodwill message came as City physiotherapist Neal Reynolds reported that 26-year-old Green was “recovering well” after a weekend operation on his damaged groin, but was likely to be sidelined for three to four months, which could rule him out of a return to action until October at least.

The 65-year-old Keelan said: “It's an absolute tragedy individually for Robert and for England's sake. He's one of the better goalkeepers in England and to be honest, I'm surprised he's still at Norwich.

“With an injury like that he will have to ease back into his programme. I know he will be in very capable hands.

“The one thing I would say to him is take your time. Injuries like hamstrings and groins are all pressure and you have to be so careful. It's tough but don't rush into a thing like this. He has a long and lucrative career ahead of him and Norwich are going to need him.”

A top surgeon in Bradford carried out the operation on Green's ruptured groin on Saturday evening.

Reynolds told the club's official website: “During the operation some of the damaged muscle tissue was repaired and in general it went as well as could be hoped.

“Robert is recovering well, all things considered. He will be on crutches for the next two to three weeks and then it's a case of sitting down and working out his rehabilitation programme moving forward.

“The original assessment that he is likely to miss the start of the season is still the case, with the surgeon estimating something in the region of three to four months being the likely timeframe.

“But one thing I will say is that Robert always gives it the absolute maximum when he is in rehab, so we will just have to see how things go in the weeks ahead.”