Ipswich Town have confirmed the bad news that midfielder Alan Judge has been ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a metatarsal problem.
The Republic of Ireland international was injured in a club training session on Tuesday and scans have revealed a fracture.
The club's physio Matt Byard gave some details to the official club website.
"Alan injured his right foot in training and has had scans which have shown a stress fracture to his third metatarsal," said Byard.
"He will be in a boot for two to three weeks and you are looking at a likely recovery time of six to eight weeks, which means he’s out for the rest of the season in all likelihood."
The injury also means the 31-year-old will miss Ireland’s Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Slovakia this month but he’s expected to be fit for the European Championship finals in June if Mick McCarthy's team qualifies.
It is another blow for McCarthy ahead of the crucial tie with captain Seamus Coleman and centre-back Ciaran Clark also ruled out.
Coleman will miss the trip to Bratislava after injuring his quad muscle in Premier League action for Everton against Manchester United over a week ago.
Clark suffered an ankle injury playing for Newcastle United away to Arsenal in February but like Judge, could have a chance of recovering before the finals in June.
Meanwhile, Slovakia's squad problems continue to mount with Clark's Newcastle team-mate Martin Dubravka injured playing against Southampton at the weekend.
The goalkeeper has suffered a knee injury and the club released a statement on Wednesday saying Dubravka would be out for "at least the rest of this month" but it is understood that he could be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that the playoff between Slovakia and the Republic of Ireland in Bratislava will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus.
Slovakia could also be without a host of players based in Italy, where all Serie A games have been postponed until April 3rd.
Slovak authorities have put in place 14 days of quarantine for anyone who has been in Italy recently.
