FULHAM boss Marco Silva has revealed Harry Wilson requires surgery on a fractured foot and is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The Wales international suffered the injury in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester United, and will not be involved when the Cottagers travel to St James' Park to take on Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
Silva said the attacking midfielder, who has scored five goals so far this season, will be out for at least ten weeks.
That will also rule him out of the start of Wales’ World Cup qualifying campaign in March.
“It’s not good news for Harry Wilson,” Silva said. “(Reiss) Nelson is getting better, (Kenny) Tete is out too.
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"Wilson needs surgery, he’s going to be out for a long period. Maybe ten weeks. Nelson won’t be in contention yet, we still have to be careful.”
Wilson’s absence adds to Fulham’s injury woes, with Tete also expected to be out for an extended period.
With January’s transfer deadline looming on Monday, Silva suggested the Cottagers will need to act quickly to secure cover for the pair.
Fulham are yet to make a signing this month after a busy summer window, but Silva said: “We are trying to get a right-back. We are looking for a player in Wilson’s position too. The time is not on our side, but let’s see what we can do.
“We are looking for two positions, it has to be the right target and the right budget. If we go for a striker, it has to be someone of high quality and that is not so easy in the winter market.”
Fulham travel to Newcastle on Saturday and despite slipping to a sixth defeat of the season against Manchester United last time out, Silva added: “We are a really difficult team to beat.
“I know we lost against West Ham and United. But we should have taken at least one point from those matches. We have quality, we have organisation. We put pressure on ourselves to reach the standards we set.
“So far we have been able to react to the downs. We have found answers to problems. We look at all the positives, even if we don’t win a game. There are areas we should quickly improve in, we’ve worked on that this week.”
