THE knee injury picked up by Sam Hughes against Doncaster has been confirmed as long-term after the defender had a scan.
It’s bad news for both the player and the Brewers who were looking to either extend his loan spell from Leicester City beyond January or bring him in on a permanent deal after a string of impressive performances.
Albion manager Jake Buxton said: “It’s a long-term injury and sadly Sam will not be with us for the remainder of the season. He will report back to Leicester and start his rehab there.
“He had a scan in Leicester on Monday, and we got the confirmation late last night that he would not be able to stay with us.
“We gave him a great platform to play first team football and he was putting in great performances. We had been in dialogue with Leicester about possibly taking him on a permanent deal and the Chairman was fully in support of making that happen.
"Unfortunately, that now can’t happen in the next window but it’s something we would still look to do in the future as we believe Sam is a good player. He is a dying breed – an old school centre half who wants to get stuck in, head it and kick it and we will miss him in the coming games.
“It means we will be back in the window for another centre half now for sure.”
Albion have no other injuries to report ahead of the trip to Lincoln on Boxing Day after Kane Hemmings made his comeback as a sub against Doncaster and came through with no setbacks.
Buxton said: “Kane got a bit of time in the last game and looked sharp in training today so he will be in contention for a start on Boxing Day.”