When it rains, it pours for Queens Park Rangers and their lengthy injury list as Julien Stephan revealed Alfie Lloyd could be out until 2027.
Stephan's ranks were further decimated when the forward was forced off in the 4-1 defeat to Southampton with a hamstring injury.
Lloyd's appearance at St Mary's was his ninth of the season and the 23-year-old scored his first Championship goal of the campaign in the recent triumph over Derby County.
“It’s a long-term injury,” QPR boss Stephan told West London Sport. “It will probably be difficult for him to come back before the end of the year.”
Confirmation of Lloyd's prolonged absence follows the injuries to full-back Tariq Lamptey, midfielder Nicolas Madsen and striker Rumarn Burrell, who are all sidelined until after the November international break.
The sequence of blows followed a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury for full-back Amadou Mbengue.
Stephan had hoped to provide better news on the injury front regarding Jake Clarke-Salter, who was an unused substitute in the defeat to Southampton, but the centre-back is set to miss Tuesday's encounter with Burnley.
The appearance of Ilias Chair on Saturday did at least offer some relief for the R's boss as the Moroccan playmaker featured in his first match since the 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough at the start of September.
QPR will gradually build Chair's minutes over the next month, while Karamoko Dembele is on the verge of returning to the squad for the first time since sustaining a serious knee injury which has kept him out since January.
Despite the plethora of injury issues QPR have encountered since the start of the campaign, the west London outfit sit on the periphery of the play-off places, just two points adrift of West Ham United in eighth.
