Dru Yearwood scan results bring bad news for Rotherham United

The midfielder was just finding his best form of the campaign when he was forced out of last Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Mansfield Town at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

A scan on his damaged calf revealed a tear and there is no guarantee that the summer signing will be available again during the 11-match run-in as the Millers seek to avoid League One relegation.

“It's a serious one,” confirmed manager Matt Hamshaw after Saturday's 1-0 loss at Huddersfield Town had left his side still stuck in 22nd spot.

“It's going to be a number of weeks. How many weeks we don't know yet, but he'll be out for the foreseeable future.

“Whether he's back before the end of the season we'll have to wait and see because, obviously, there's not long left.”

Yearwood has made 32 appearances this term but many of those outings have been as a substitute. He had begun to come good in recent weeks and turned in a man-of-the-match performance as a starter in the February 28 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle.

The 26-year-old's absence adds to Rotherham's concerns in the centre of the park as Dan Gore, Kian Spence and Josh Benson are unavailable as well.

As they try to bridge a three-point gap to safety, the Millers are also without wing-backs Denzel Hall and Marvin Kaleta, centre-half Hamish Douglas and strikers Jordan Hugill and Josh Kayode.

Yearwood, who made his mark as a teenager with Southend United before a seven-figure move to Brentford and then a three-and-a-half-year spell in the MLS in America, signed a one-year deal at New York last July.

Rotherham have an option to extend the contract by a further 12 months.

After a run of six matches in 19 days, Hamshaw's squad now have a free week before next Saturday's visit of third-placed Bolton Wanderers.

Reflecting on Yearwood being confined to the treatment room, the boss said: “It's disappointing but now it's next man up.”