Bristol City have been dealt a huge blow with an injury-plagued midfielder set for another long lay-off.
Korey Smith has been ruled out for at least five months, just weeks after returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines following a serious knee injury.
Smith returned after seven months out with the ligament damage against Middlesbrough in early April before picking up a foot injury against Reading on Good Friday.
Before the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Easter Monday, boss Lee Johnson claimed the 28-year-old's foot was so swollen he was unable to bear weight on it ahead of an X-ray.
Speaking ahead of Bristol City's must-win final game of the season away to Hull on Sunday, the head coach revealed the injury was a serious one and the player has undergone surgery..
"Unfortunately it's not good news. We've lost him probably for five or six months," said Johnson.
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"He had to have a plate in his foot to bind the metatarsals together and pull the ligaments tight.
"It's a tough one to take because it's not related at all to the previous injury, it was a unique freak incident, an accident, one that he doesn't deserve and I don't think we deserve as a football club either given how important he is and what key attributes he's got."
Johnson revealed that Niki Maenpaa will also miss the final game of the season after aggravating the calf injury that ruled him out for two months.
City's No1 Niki Maenpaa has been reinstated to the starting line-up for Saturday's defeat for Derby but Max O'Leary was back between the sticks on Tuesday night.
"Niki's struggling. He's had a minor reoccurrence of his calf injury.
"It was a risk, we knew that, everybody signed the disclaimer if you like in terms of player, manager and physios.
"Unfortunately the scar tissue has just come away a little bit and he'll be a couple of weeks sidelined."
Tuesday's penalty-saving hero Max O'Leary will deputise once again on Sunday.
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Smith's absence will be more keenly felt however as, Johnson himself admits, Bristol City don't currently possess a like-for-like midfield replacement who can equally be a defensive destructive force and provide energy going forward.
That may now become an area the Robins will look to strengthen in the summer, with Smith out until October at the earliest.
