Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson is resigned to being without top scorer Kwame Poku for three months following surgery on a hamstring injury.
The 23-year-old had to go off in the 24th minute of last Wednesday’s home defeat by Burton Albion.
Poku joined Posh from Colchester United in the summer of 2021 and has 10 goals so far this season.
“He’s been the best player in the league in many people’s opinion and we have to get on with it. He’ll be back around March time,” Ferguson told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
“He had a scan and needed an operation. It gives someone else an opportunity, that’s how I’m looking at it – I never get too down on injuries because I know it’s part of the game, I don’t make excuses with it, I never have done.
“But it is a blow for the boy because he’s in such good form.”
Ferguson hoped to have goalkeeper Jed Steer back in contention for Monday’s game against managerless Northampton Town following a knee injury, but his return has been put back because of illness although is “close”.
“It’s nothing serious, nothing about the injury. He’ll be back on the grass next week and he’s pretty close,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson believes the performance against Burton will prove to be a “one-off” in terms of the lack of chances created.
“We watched it back and there were clear messages for the players about what we didn’t do well. Playing the way Burton did, my job is to make sure that if a team is set up and do exactly the same thing, how are we going to break it down,” Ferguson said.
“All the spaces in behind we never used – the first time we did was when Kwame got injured.”
He added: “It can happen. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to scrape a result.”
