Ian Poveda is set to undergo surgery after Rovers received news that the Leeds United has suffered a fractured fibula and ligament damage to his ankle.

Tony Mowbray expects to be without the 21-year-old ‘for a considerable amount of time’ with the news ‘a lot worse’ than Rovers were expecting.

The manager didn't put a timescale on the injury but Poveda's involvement in the rest of the season is in doubt following the outcome of his scan in his left leg.

Poveda has made eight appearances during his time at Rovers so far, his start at Bristol City coming after scoring in the win over Sheffield United where he put in his best performance of the season.

He kept his place for the game at Ashton Gate but left the field on a stretcher, with his left leg in a brace.

“The news isn’t particularly good. He’s broken his fibula, he’s got some ligament damage to the ankle,” Mowbray said.

“That’s a lot worse than we would have hoped at the time because it did look relatively innocuous at the time.

“It’s not good news for him, or us.

“He’s not in the building, he went back with parents after the game and we’ve been in touch with Leeds United and it looks like he’ll have an operation to plate it up and put the bone back.

“We’ll await what Leeds want to do with him, he’s their player but it will be a considerable amount of time to recover.

“We feel for him. He had made his breakthrough, we were starting to see the very best of him because he’s such a talent, the way he can dribble, use both feet and keep the ball tight.

“He was just acclimatising to the demands of the Championship and the physicality levels.

“It’s a blow for us but ultimately a bigger blow for him.”