Brentford have confirmed that midfielder Lewis MacLeod's return from an injury layoff has been delayed due to another setback.
The 21-year-old has yet to make his debut for the Bees since joining from Rangers 11 months ago, due to a string of ongoing problems.
Following a few run-outs for the development squad in recent weeks, the former Rangers man was thought to be closing in on a welcome first-team return.
That comeback to senior football has now been pushed back until the New Year, however, with a fresh hamstring injury sustained last week.
"Lewis Macleod has progressed well over the past two months and completed a series of development squad matches, including two 90 minutes games, without issue," Brentford's head of medical Neil Greig told the club's official website. "He has begun to restore his match sharpness and impressed the coaching staff with his application and technical qualities.
"Unfortunately, during his most recent game against Reading [last Friday], Lewis sustained a small strain to the same hamstring, albeit a different area, which prevented him from completing the game as planned. Given the well documented issues that Lewis has experienced over the past ten months, every precaution was exercised and he was withdrawn from the game.
"We have thoroughly investigated Lewis's injury during the course of the week and sought the further advice of the consultant that has been assisting in the management of his case. The findings suggest that Lewis's injury, whilst relatively minor, will need to be progressively returned to training over the coming three to four weeks in order to account for his previous history"
Brentford also face being without striker Marco Djuricin for the remainder of the year after he was forced off in the first half against Blackburn Rovers last time out, while Josh McEachran will up his own return to full fitness when featuring in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Bournemouth on Friday afternoon.
