Friday 8 September 2017 12:07, UK
Sheffield Wednesday forward Fernando Forestieri requires knee surgery and will be ruled out of action for "a minimum of three months".
The 27-year-old, who scored 12 goals last season, has made three appearances for the Owls this campaign but was dropped from the first team following a training ground bust-up with Sam Winnall.
Forestieri returned to the bench for Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Burton on August 26 and manager Carlos Carvalhal confirmed on Friday that the Italian requires an operation on his knee, ruling him out until December at least.
"Fernando will be out for a minimum of three months. He needs surgery on his knee," said Carvalhal.
"We hope he will recover as soon as possible."
Forestieri signed a one-year contract extension in January, commiting himself to the Owls until 2020.
Gary Hooper and Steven Fletcher started up front in the Owls' draw at Burton last time out, with Jordan Rhodes on the bench, while Forestieri's absence could see Lucas Joao return to contention.
Carvalhal added: "It's opened more space for him. We still have a minimum of one of the attackers missing from the 18 [match-day squad] so we don't have a problem.
"Two will play, two will be on the bench and one will miss out. We still have good options. It opens more space to him [Joao] and the other strikers.
"We believe in him. He has very good abilities and of course he needs to play."
Sheffield Wednesday, who sit 16th in the Championship after winning one of their first five games, host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football from 5.15pm.
