Striker Dan Nlundulu is to undergo surgery on a hamstring injury which will keep him out for a sustained period of time.
Nlundulu was injured towards the end of Wanderers’ Bristol Street Motors Trophy win over Port Vale on Tuesday night.
Manager Ian Evatt confirmed that the 24-year-old is likely to be out ‘more months than weeks’ and pledged the Whites’ full support for a player who has made a major impact in recent weeks.
“When one of us is hurting, we’re all hurting,” said Evatt. “This is a family and we’ll support him and get him back to where he needs to be mentally and then he can look forward to his future here, and this is just the beginning.
“He can get back to the levels he has just shown us and go again from there. He’s in this for the long term and we’ll support him every step of the way.”
Nlundulu, who joined Wanderers on a permanent basis from Southampton this summer following four months on loan at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, had scored three goals in his last four appearances as part of the Whites’ in-form strikeforce.
“That’s the positive that he needs to see - that he has shown us what he can do,” added Evatt, who will be without the frontman for next Monday night’s top-of-the-table clash at Portsmouth and the next period of Wanderers’ promotion challenge.
“If he had got this injury on the back of when he was struggling performance-wise it would be a lot harder to take, but Dan has shown everyone what he can do.
“We’ve all got a huge amount of faith in him. He’s got a huge amount of faith in himself and now he needs to focus on his recovery and make sure he gets back better and stronger than ever.
“A player in such good form is never nice to miss, and he has been. We’re going to be more reliant on the other four forwards now. Carlos (Mendes Gomes) can also play there so we’ve still got good options, but we’re still going to miss Dan.”