JOSH COBURN has suffered another major injury setback during his loan move with Millwall, with a broken metatarsal set to keep the Middlesbrough striker on the sidelines for at least two months.

Coburn is on a season-long loan at the Den, but having suffered from a succession of injury issues while with Boro last term, the striker’s fortunes have not improved in south London.

Having scored on his Millwall debut, the 21-year-old suffered an ankle injury in the second game of his loan spell that kept him on the sidelines until the start of last month.

He claimed his second Millwall goal in a draw with Stoke City, but was withdrawn at the half-time interval of his third game back after his injury break at Oxford United at the weekend.

Coburn left the Kassam Stadium with his foot in a protective boot, and scans have subsequently revealed a fracture that is expected to keep him out of action until well into January at the earliest.

“Josh is ruled out for the foreseeable future – after Christmas,” confirmed Millwall boss Neil Harris, in an interview with the South London Press. “He had got a broken metatarsal in his foot. He left the ground in a boot at the weekend, you know there is damage when that happens.

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“It is probably a similar timeframe as Jake Cooper, you’re looking at probably both being eight weeks until they return. He is going to miss a large chunk of an important period of football.

“Josh, when he is on the pitch, showed his qualities as a Millwall number nine and his importance to the squad, and why we were so desperate to bring him in, as a profile as a striker at the football club. It is a big loss, but we have coped very well without him in the past and we will have to do in the future.”

Millwall visit the Riverside a week on Saturday, and while Coburn would have been ineligible against his parent club anyway, the latest injury issue is a major setback for the striker.

It will also be a considerable disappointment to Michael Carrick, who was hoping to be able to see how Coburn would cope with the demands of a full Championship season.