Cardiff City midfielder Joe Ralls is set for another period on the sidelines after sustaining a broken hand, Neil Harris has confirmed.
The Bluebirds boss was keen to reintroduce Ralls as quickly as possible after he had been suffering with a groin issue for a number of weeks.
And the City star, who was brilliant in the first part of the season, was handed his first start under Harris at Elland Road last week.
However, in a massive blow to the Bluebirds, it has now transpired that he broke his hand in that encounter with Leeds and even refused to come off after being asked on three separate occasions.
Harris has previously called Ralls a 'superstar', but it appears as though the Cardiff manager will not have him at his disposal during this packed winter schedule.
“It’s a blow, we just got him back and now he will miss a period,” Harris said of Ralls.
“It is a shame as we just got him back and I have been clear he is going to be an instrumental player in my side.”
Another disappointing bulletin for the Bluebirds is that Joe Bennett is also touch and go for the Boxing Day clash with Millwall after sustaining an Achilles injury in training.
Bennett had been a mainstay at left-back this term, but an injury late in the week handed Jazz Richards his first league start in almost two years.
“He (Bennett) went down in training yesterday,” Harris added.
“Will he be ready for the Christmas period, I don’t know. We will assess him again. The Achilles is a fatigue injury.”
