Derby 'hopeful' Morris injury will not end season
Carlton Morris joined Derby County on a three-year deal in the summer
- Published
Derby County's Carlton Morris can only "optimistically" hope he will be out injured for three months and not rest of the season, says manager John Eustace.
The full extent of the leg injury which forced leading scorer Morris off in Saturday's defeat by Watford is not known.
Early scan results, which were returned before Derby's win at Swansea on Tuesday, have the Rams hopeful of getting the 29-year-old back by March.
"It's not as bad as we first thought, and we just have to hope that it's not the season," Eustace told BBC Radio Derby.
"The final results haven't come in yet, but it will take at least two or three months from now, which is a blow.
"Hopefully we can get him right for February or March time, but that is me being optimistic."
Before Morris limped off the pitch against Watford, the prolific forward had scored 10 goals in 15 appearances since joining from Luton Town in the summer.
His goals accounted for exactly half of all those scored by Derby in the Championship before he was injured.
His team-mates, however, have since managed four goals in two games - which is collectively more than they had scored in the five-game winning run before Morris' injury.
The striker had been in the form of his life, scoring six goals in four games including the first hat-trick of his career.
Eustace said Morris had been in to see team-mates before their trip to Swansea, which produced a sixth win in seven games to move the Rams up to seventh in the table and equal on points with Bristol City in the play-off spots.
"He is a warrior and a true professional," Eustace said of Morris.
"Whatever happens he will be right behind the group - that shows the strength of this group, that when you lose a player of that class and quality and leadership and still have players to come in and fill the gap.
"We just have to hope that he is back sooner rather than later and that the rest of the group can keep pushing on."
