Max Clayton's season is over after Bolton Wanderes boss Neil Lennon revealed he has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The 20-year-old striker came off in the first half of the 0-0 draw with Ipswich Town last weekend and Lennon confirmed fears that the former Crewe trainee would be out for around six months."Max had surgery on Tuesday," he explained. "It's a clean cruciate, there's no complications with it. I think the surgery went pretty well.
"He's a fit lad so you're looking at maybe six months which seems a lifetime away but hopefully for him it will go quickly and we will have him for the start of next season fit and well.
"It's a blow, no question, because he was playing very well. And it's a blow to the lad because he'd worked very hard to get to the form and the position that he was in.
"We seem to have bad luck with these kind of injuries if you think Mark Davies is out long-term, Stuart Holden and Marc Tierney too. We're having a bad run with serious injuries at the minute.
"We can't dwell on it. We obviously have to get on with things. From Max's point of view it's a blow at this stage of his career."
Clayton was recruited by Wanderers under former boss Dougie Freedman but he was handed his first start under Lennon and had been a regular under the Northern Irishman.
Speaking about Clayton, Lennon added: "We were delighted with him, really pleased. We think he's got a bright future in the game.
"This will be a blow to him but the way medical rehabilitation is these days it will be pretty clean and straightforward.
"We're hoping come the start of next season we'll have a fully-fit Max Clayton again ready to go.
"He's a kid that works really hard at his game. He was pretty upset about things, as we all were for him. But it's a test of his character now; I'm pretty sure he will come back stronger than ever."
It further depletes Lennon's attacking options too, with Craig Davies again likely to be ruled out for this Friday's game at Millwall due to a hamstring injury.