Midfielder Bobby Clark will miss the rest of the Championship season unless Derby reach the play-offs, says head coach John Eustace.
The 21-year-old is on a season-long loan from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg but picked up a hamstring injury in last week’s 2-1 defeat by Southampton which Eustace says will sideline him for the remaining four games of the regular season.
"It's not as bad as we initially thought, which is fantastic news for him, but unfortunately he's going to be missing for three or four weeks so we probably won't see him again this season unless we reach the play-off semi-finals," the Rams boss told BBC Radio Derby.
"That's something we need to keep driving for as we obviously want to see him put on a Derby shirt before the end of the season."
Clark has made 41 league appearances for Derby since joining in August, scoring three goals, and Eustace is keen to try to make his stay permanent.
"He's disappointed not to finish the season with us. He's enjoyed his time here, loved the way he's developed, so I'm pretty confident if the opportunity was here for us to sign him for next season, he'd want to come," he added.
"He's a clever player, a young lad who has come out of his shell throughout the season."
Derby are currently eighth in the Championship table, five points short of the play-off places and host Oxford United on Saturday (12:30 BST).
