Dai Young has confirmed that Max Llewellyn is facing 10 to 12 weeks on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury.
The young centre, who has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with the Blue and Blacks, was forced off during his side’s bonus point win over Newcastle Falcons last weekend.
With Willis Halaholo also currently ruled out for the coming weeks, Young admits losing Llewellyn is a blow but is confident there are players at his disposal who can step into the midfield in the duo’s absence.
"We were a little bit surprised how serious his ankle injury was," said Cardiff boss Dai Young.
"He'll need an operation on that ankle injury. He'll be out for 10 to 12 weeks. That's obviously a big blow.
"James Ratti limped off with a knee injury and he'll be out for two or three weeks. He took a collision on the knee. Thankfully it's nothing structural but it'll take a couple of weeks for that to settle down.
"Ben Thomas is the obvious candidate to replace Max at 12 He's played there a lot for us. Rey (Lee-Lo) is alo more than comfortable there.
"We've got Mason and Harri Millard who can play 13. Owen Lane and Josh Adams can play there as well. The cupboard isn't bare, but it's two huge losses in Max and Willis.
"Willis won't be back until the back-end of the Six Nations. We won't see him in the short-term.
"Max has (showed up well). I thought we'd brought him on really well to be honest.
"We dripped him in, haven't overexposed him and allowed him to develop at his own pace. Right from the start of this season, he's looked really comfortable.
"He's been an ever-present for most of the season. We know he's a big guy so he's got a power game, but he's got good hands so he can distribute and defensively he's strong.
"We're gutted for him and gutted for ourselves, really. He's been a big part of some of our bigger performances.”
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