Norwich City striker Josh Sargent will be out of action until the new year because of a groin injury.
The 24-year-old United States international missed Saturday’s Championship game at Cardiff City, when the Canaries were beaten 2-1.
Head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has confirmed Sargent needs surgery and will be out for at least eight weeks.
“It’s not the ideal scenario for anybody. We have options and possibilities for other players to come in,” he said.
Sargent has scored four goals in 14 appearances this season and established himself as first-choice up front in the absence of the experienced Ashley Barnes, who is also out injured.
More positively, Thorup hopes to have midfielder Marcelino Nunez and goalkeeper Angus Gunn fit to return before the end of the month, following the next international break, but the scale of the club’s injury situation has been a concern.
“We brought (Christian) Fassnacht and Tony Springett on to the bench the other day, but they were not available (to play) – that was just to start to integrate them into the team,” Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk.
“We had 15, 16 outfield players available for minutes (against Cardiff) but one of them was a under-21 player who just came from a Friday night game at Manchester City.
“It’s a crazy situation that we are in, but we deal with it, we support each other and we don’t blame each other.”
Norwich are 10th in the table, three points outside the top six, before Tuesday’s away fixture against Sheffield Wednesday.