Striker Freddie Sears has been ruled out for at least nine months having sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury during Sunday’s 3-0 East Anglian derby loss at Norwich City.
"Sears, 29, was subbed just before the break following a challenge with Tom Trybull with a scan confirming he damaged his ACL.
"The scan has confirmed a cruciate ligament injury in his right knee,” Blues physio Matt Byard told the club site.
"""He will see a specialist later this week who will determine the timeframe, but it’s likely that surgery will take place in the next two weeks.
"We will know more from the specialist but with this type of injury, you are looking at nine to 12 months recovery.”""
Sears added: "I’m obviously devastated but I want to thank the fans for their support yesterday.”
The injury is a big blow for the Blues’ already fading hopes of avoiding the drop with the former West Ham and Colchester man having scored six goals since Paul Lambert took charge in October.
Town recently took up an option to keep Sears at Portman Road for the 2019/20 season.
Already sidelined for a similar length of time with cruciate injuries are midfielder Grant Ward and striker Ben Morris, while another young frontman, Ben Folami, is out for a similar period with an achilles injury.
Midfielder Andre Dozzell missed all but the first 45 minutes of last season with an ACL injury suffered on the opening day.