Blues midfielder Grant Ward says his season has been ended by the knee injury he suffered at QPR yesterday.
Posting on Instagram, the 24-year-old, who picked up the knock in what looked a relatively routine challenge just after the hour mark, wrote: "ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] done, see you next season.”
Ward, who was making his second start under new manager Paul Lambert, was initially helped to walk off the pitch before being stretchered to the tunnel. Depending on the seriousness of the injury, Ward could be out for up to a year, as Andre Dozzell was with the ACL injury he suffered at the start of last season.
Ward’s loss leaves Lambert even more short of experienced midfielders with Cole Skuse expected to be out for around another five or six weeks having undergone minor knee surgery and long-term absentees Emyr Huws (knee) and Tom Adeyemi (achilles) still not ready to return.
Even prior to Ward’s injury Lambert had said he was looking to add another experienced midfielder to his squad.