Fulham striker Bobby Zamora will be sidelined for four months after suffering a broken ankle on Saturday.
The 29-year-old, who sustained the injury in a challenge from Karl Henry, had to be given oxygen on the pitch before being stretchered off in the 2-1 win over Fulham.
And manager Mark Hughes has confirmed Zamora, who has only just put pen-to-paper on a new four-year contract, will be out of action until at least January.
He told Sky Sports: “Unfortunately he’s broken his leg just above the ankle so at the moment we think it’s just the break.
“He’ll have an operation (on Sunday), the surgeon will look to see if there’s any damage to the ligaments.
“At the moment it looks quite awful but the likelihood is that he’ll be out for a minimum of four months unfortunately.
“It’s a shame but I don’t really lay the blame on the player (Henry). It’s one of those things.
“There’s always a danger if you get tackled from the side or from behind that players’ legs can get trapped.
“I don’t think there was any intent to hurt Bobby. You don’t expect the circumstances of the injury to be the results of a challenge like that, but it can happen.”