Cardiff City striker Isaac Vassell has had to undergo surgery which will sideline him for a considerable length of time.
Vassell was signed by Neil Warnock back in the summer of 2019 and enjoyed a dream debut, scoring a last-gasp winner for the Bluebirds in front of the Canton Stand against his former club Luton Town.
That's about as good as it got, though, with the player having not kicked a ball in anger in competitive action since August 2019.
After attempting to recover from that initial thigh tear, he suffered a nightmare series of events thereafter.
During one comeback attempt he pulled up lame during an under-23s match back in March last year before smacking a hurdle on the side of the athletics track at Leckwith as Neil Harris walked with him down the tunnel.
In pre-season this summer, it looked as though he would form part of the squad for the upcoming campaign, but this latest news rules him out for some time.
When asked if he saw Vassell ever playing for Cardiff again, Mick McCarthy replied: "I hope so, but he has had an operation on his thigh. That’s put him back, considerably."
Pressed on a time frame, the manager said: "I’m not going to say anything about that. That’s for the physios.
"He was really upset with it. As we all were.
"In pre-season he looked good and I thought we were going to get a turn out of him, which would have been great because he’s a good player.
"I feel really sad for him.
"He’s trying to keep his own spirits up and we are trying to do that as well. It’s been really tough for him."
McCarthy was looking forward to having Vassell form part of his forward line, with the 28-year-old adding some much-needed experience given the manager's alternative options at the minute appear to be Isaak Davies and Chanka Zimba, neither of whom have played first-team football.
After this latest, sizeable setback, though, and with the player's contract expiring next summer, it appears highly unlikely Vassell will ever add to his three Cardiff City appearances.
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