Pedro Pereira could have played his last game for Bristol City with Lee Johnson revealing the Portuguese right-back is out for up to four weeks with a thigh injury.
Pereira was substituted at half-time during City's 3-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers last Saturday and underwent a scan this week which revealed a 5cm tear in the muscle.
The Portuguese Under-21 international is on a season-long loan from Benfica, with the agreement extended for the 22-year-old to complete the 2019/20 campaign at Ashton Gate.
Head coach Lee Johnson is remaining upbeat that he can return to play for the Robins but with the regular season finishing on July 22, the initial four-week prognosis is likely to take him past that date.
"We hope it's not too long but the medical prognosis is four weeks with a ripped rec fem, which is the thigh muscle," Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol. "He's got a five centimetre tear by the scan.
"But his signs in terms of how he feels, he feels very good. So sometimes it's a balance between taking the medical advice from the scan versus the player's actual feeling."
City do have the option of turning his loan from Benfica into a permanent but reports in Portugal claim the Lisbon side want £5m, which would be out of the Robins price-range with an expectation that it could be negotiated down.
It means Jack Hunt will almost certainly start against Sheffield Wednesday this Sunday, with Zak Vyner now stepping up as second-choice right-back, having also been used in defensive midfield in training.
The versatile Vyner has spent the last three-and-a-half seasons on loan at Accrington, Plymouth Argyle, Rotherham and Aberdeen, in a variety of positions - including centre-back and centre-midfield - but all his Championship experience is at right-back.
"Pereira's out now, so Zak will look to compete in that right-back slot with Jack Hunt, but we know he can play there," Johnson added. "If you're talking absolute Premier League-standard theres a bit to develop, but that's where we are as a football club."
