Marley Watkins' Aberdeen future could be in doubt after the on-loan forward was ruled out for up to 10 weeks.
The 30-year-old, at Pittodrie from Bristol City until January 31, was carried off during the William Hill Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic on Sunday.
A downbeat Derek McInnes revealed Watkins suffered a "significant" hamstring injury and will be sidelined until the New Year.
While that could end his Dons stint prematurely, McInnes will hold talks with the Robins over the next week.
“It is not great," the Aberdeen boss told the Press and Journal. "Marley has a significant tear as well as the damage on his hamstring. He will probably be out for between eight to 10 weeks.
“That is a real blow for us. We will liaise with Bristol and formulate a plan over the next week or so.
“Marley was a player who against the majority of opposition could play up front alongside Sam Cosgrove or another. Unfortunately we will not get to see that for the foreseeable future.
“It is a blow for us as I have really enjoyed having Marley with us and he has been very influential in the team."
Meanwhile, McInnes expects to have Jonny Hayes back sooner than expected after he pulled up in the warm-up before the weekend Hampden defeat.
The manager added: "Jonny is probably not as bad as initially feared although he will probably still be out for the next two to three weeks. Thankfully it is not a big a tear or issue as Dylan McGeouch’s tear.
“Hopefully Jonny will be back for the game on the 28th November, the League Cup tie game. We didn’t want to go into a game of Sunday’s magnitude without Jonny.
“He will probably miss Hibs, Rangers and Hamilton and hopefully back for the following game.”
