Kieffer Moore has suffered a broken foot and will undergo surgery on Monday in a blow that will see him miss Wales' crucial World Cup play-off clash with Austria.
The forward secured a move to Bournemouth from Cardiff City on transfer deadline day in January following a month out due to injury.
However, he passed his Cherries medical on deadline day and was raring to take part in their push for promotion to the Premier League over the course of the coming months.
He was cup-tied for Bournemouth's clash with Boreham Wood, a game they lost, and was named on the bench for their last league fixture against Birmingham City.
He was brought on just three minutes from time, though, to make his Bournemouth debut on Wednesday, albeit in a short-lived cameo.
But the 29-year-old was curiously omitted from Scott Parker's matchday squad for the clash with Blackpool, prompting many to question whether he was fit enough to play.
Photos then began circulating on social media, suggesting that Moore had been snapped outside a Bournemouth hospital on Thursday hobbling on a crutch and with a protective boot on his right foot. (See below.)
But Cherries boss Parker confirmed after their dramatic late win over Blackpool on Saturday that Moore was indeed injured and it was as severe as the alleged photo of him suggested.
"Kieffer's a big disappointment. Kieffer's broken his foot," Parker said.
"Kieffer's going to be out for probably the next two months. Disappointing really.
"The luck on it. Brought him in, he's come on for five minutes, landed on his foot, which is his opposite foot (to his recent ankle injury), a brand new injury and he's broken his foot.
"He'll have surgery on Monday, so that's disappointing."
Parker stated that Moore is due to undergo surgery in the coming days. The early prognosis is that Moore will be out for eight to 10 weeks, meaning he will miss the crunch clash with Austria in 40 days' time at Cardiff City Stadium.
In better news, Gareth Bale on Saturday made his first Real Madrid appearance since August 28, playing 75 minutes in their 0-0 draw with Villareal in La Liga.
Wales take on Austria on March 24 in their World Cup play-off semi-final, the winner of which takes on the victors of the Scotland-Ukraine match for their ticket to Qatar.
