Barnsley FC's Michael Duff on 'huge blow' for Conor McCarthy plus updates on Matty Wolfe, Jack Aitchison, Slobodan Tedic, Robbie Cundy and Luca Connell

The Irishman, signed in the summer, suffered the injury in an innocuous looking incident last weekend's win over Charlton, despite managing to play on for the full 90 minutes with the problem diagnosed earlier this week.

Duff, whose side visit Fleetwood on Saturday, said: "Unfortunately, Conor injured his ACL on Saturday. It is a bit of a strange one as he did it with 20 minutes to go and managed to play the rest of the game.

"He came in Monday and reported a bit of a sore knee afterwards and had a scan on Tuesday and he has totally ruptured his ACL. Unfortunately, he is out for the season.

"He has got incredibly strong quads. You can actually get away with it if your quads are strong enough. It is a strange mechanism. He had gone to chest a ball to one of our players and one of their lads pushed him in the back and it is just as he has planted his foot.

"Obviously, it is a huge blow for him and us. He's finding his feet at a new football club and had a step-up. He's disappointed. I had a long chat with him on Tuesday and he will go through his own rage of emotions now of 'why me, why's this and that.'

"He will hopefully have his operation next week and quickly get his head around the landscape for the next nine months. He's a good person and has good people around him. He will be fine."

Meanwhile, midfielder Matty Wolfe is likely to be out of action for six weeks with an ankle injury.

Duff confirmed: "Wolfie has done an ankle ligament, so he's looking at six weeks."

Jack Aitchison (hamstring) has a chance of being available on Saturday's trip to the Fylde coast, while Slobodan Tedic (back) will be assessed.

Robbie Cundy (hip) 'has a chance' after coming off on Saturday with injury, while Luca Connell is available after a hamstring issue.

Duff added: "Jack has got a chance. It was more of a twinge than anything else. He's got a chance. Whether he will be available, I am not quite.

"Slobodan's back keeps spasming and we don't know. If he has a good couple of days, he will be all right. It actually went into spasm on the bench on Saturday.

"It was not as bad as we first thought with Robbie. We had a scan and it did not show a lot and he has a chance."

On Connell, he added: "Luca is available and back training now. He was a minor one and he caught it quickly. Best off missing two games than two months. He is definitely part of consideration."

Barnsley report no other fresh injuries for the trip to Fleetwood. The Reds are unbeaten in their past five league games are sit in fifth spot.