Sea Eagles coach Kieran Foran says strike centre Tolu Koula doesn’t need surgery and is confident the Tongan star will be fit and firing in time for the World Cup which begins in October.

Koula was forced off during last week’s win over Newcastle with a high grade-two syndesmosis injury as a result of a hip-drop tackle by Knights winger Dom Young.

He will miss the rest of the NRL season barring a miracle that would see Manly qualify for the finals and reach the decider.

But the speedster has been cleared to add to his eight Tests for Tonga, with their first World Cup match on October 17 against England.

“It’s looking like he’ll be out for a month. It’s disappointing, but there’s not much you can do about it,” Foran said.

“He’s a really positive young guy. He’s naturally disappointed that the injury has happened, but he’s got to get on with his rehab and get his ankle back to full strength and full flexibility.

“They (the medical team) are pretty comfortable and confident that they’ll be able to rehab it without surgery, so that’s a bonus for him. He’s looking to get himself right for that campaign.”

The Sea Eagles realistically have two games remaining in their season unless they can beat the Dragons and Warriors, and then hope the Rabbitohs, Cowboys and Bulldogs somehow fall off a cliff.

They kept their improbable hopes alive with a big win over Newcastle to snap a six-game losing streak, with Foran proud of the fight they’ve shown this year after they started with three-straight losses that saw coach Anthony Seibold moved on.

“We’re trying not to put our focus on external results,” he said.

“We’ve got to focus on what we need to get right against the Dragons on Friday evening. If we get that part right then we’ve done our role there.

“Then it’s about hoping that results fall our way. We don’t want to put our energy into that because then we’ll miss the mark on what we need to do in our backyard.

“We’re really proud of the growth in the footy that we’ve played.

“We found ourselves in a really challenging patch for a bit that we would have loved to have been able to come away with a few more wins and put ourselves right up there.

“I think we’ve done the best job possible, and that’s all you can do.”

Originally published as Tolu Koula expected to be fit for the World Cup as Manly fights for a miracle finals berth