Crystal Palace striker Calvin Andrew faces up to six months out with a knee injury.
The 22-year-old sustained the problem while on loan at Brighton playing in their final League One game of the season against Stockport.
Eagles manager Neil Warnock told the Croydon Guardian: "It's quite a serious knee injury and he will be out for about six months."
He added: "I was going to call him back and use him against Sheffield United if he wasn't playing in their last game, but they said he would.
"Then he wasn't in the starting line-up which wasn't our agreement, but came on anyway after 10 minutes."
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