Lee Johnson has confirmed Jordan Willis is expected to be out for a term of at least six months, ruling the defender out for the rest of the season.
Willis is due to undergo surgery on a ruptured patella tendon, suffered in the opening three minutes of Tuesday's visit to Shrewsbury Town - he had previously been managing a tendonitis issue in the affected area.
"It's probably a minimum term of six months, and he'll be a huge miss," Johnson admitted in his press conference as we prepare to host Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
"He had been nursing the injury for a while. I really feel for him - he's a great lad and a really good player with Championship quality and physicality.
"We'll still see him off the pitch, but as we know it's not the same bringing that personality when you're unable to play."
The Head Coach also gave shorter-term updates on when we may see the introduction of Ross Stewart, as well as his thoughts on our goalkeeping competition.
"Ross has had what we expect to be a brief setback - maybe around a week to 10 days. He slipped in a rehabilitation drill with the physio, and felt tightness for the first time in two to three weeks.
"Regarding the goalkeepers, they know things haven't gone as well as expected in recent weeks - that's a fair assessment. But it must be remembered that goalkeepers are in a perilous position - I played with David James, who probably dropped 100 balls but caught 10,000.
"It's about how you react after bold mistakes. You see top international goalkeepers making mistakes, being scrutinised, but I'm here to support the players and help give them that toolbox of resilience to come back stronger."