Wolverhampton Wanderers have been rocked by the news that striker Nouha Dicko could be set to miss the rest of the 2015/16 season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in the recent victory over Charlton Athletic.
The Championship club announced the news via Twitter, also wishing the 23-year-old well with his recovery and confirming that he would undergo surgery on the injury next week.
The news has left Wolves in the lurch somewhat, with Kenny Jackett given limited time to find a replacement for one of his star men and finding clubs unwilling to lose their own forwards at such a late stage of the window.
Wolves' teeth blunted by Dicko's absence
The prolific attacking partnership of Dicko and Benik Afobe was arguably Wolves' biggest weapon in their quest for promotion and while Jackett has plenty of Championship experience in backup striker Adam Le Fondre, his team will look noticably blunter without Dicko.
The French-born Mali international has found the net only once in six appearances so far this season, but had scored 28 times in the previous two seasons as Wolves were first promoted as runaway champions of League One, then missed out on the Championship play-off positions on goal difference alone.
Dicko himself is understandably disappointed with the news, and has tweeted his frustration at the news.
He said: "Bad news... Not the season I was expecting but that's How Life is . Thanks for the support. Take care everyone".
Afobe shoulders the goalscoring burden
The injury to Dicko further underlines the importance of Wolves' success in managing to keep hold of top scorer Afobe, who has been the subject of a number of bids from recently-promoted Norwich City this season.
Some fans may have been tempted to take the money and run with £10million offered but Wolves dug their heels in and refused to entertain any offers for his services.
With 13 goals in 21 appearances since moving to Molineux in January, the former Arsenal man will now have to shoulder even more of the goalscoring mantle if Wolves are to succeed where they failed last term in making the play-offs at the end of the season.