Yet more injury woe for Rotherham United. This time it's Cohen Bramall

The 27-year-old has suffered severe damage to an ankle ligament and is now caught in a race to be fit for the final stages of the Millers' battle for Championship survival.

“He'll be out for some time,” boss Leam Richardson told the Advertiser after Saturday's 2-0 home loss to promotion contenders Southampton had left his bottom-placed side 12 points adrift of safety. “It will be the majority of the rest of the season.”

Bramall has been a regular starter for Rotherham this term under previous manager Matt Taylor and then Richardson and the Saints clash was only the second time he's been absent from a matchday squad.

He limped off at Middlesbrough on January 20 and joins an extensive list of players who have been unavailable for long spells.

Cameron Humphreys, Shane Ferguson, Tyler Blackett, Grant Hall, Daniel Ayala and Andre Green have all been in the treatment room for varying lengths of time and, of those, only Humphreys is now in first-team contention.

The centre-half made his return to the squad for the first time for more than four months against Southampton and was an unused substitute at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

“We get one back but Cohen goes out,” Richardson said. “We've had no luck with injuries.

“You don't want to lose any of your players. It's a challenge but you overcome and adapt. It's somebody else's opportunity.”

The head coach gave a debut to deadline-day loan signing Femi Seriki at the weekend, bringing on the wing-back as a late sub, but left the two other loanees who arrived in the final hours of the transfer window on Thursday on the bench.

A first taste of action for striker Charlie Wyke and midfielder Andy Rinomhota could come against another promotion-chasing side, Leeds United, next Saturday when the Millers head to Elland Road for a Yorkshire derby.