NEWPORT County AFC have suffered an injury hammer blow after losing striker Seb Palmer-Houlden for at least three months with a torn hamstring.

The 19-year-old Bristol City striker pulled up just minutes after coming off the bench in the Carabao Cup defeat to Premier League Brentford.

Palmer-Houlden, who has made an impressive start to life in Newport alongside top scorer Will Evans with two goals and a pair of assists, will now be out of action until December at the earliest.

The bright prospect will return to Bristol for his rehabilitation but will remain registered with the Exiles with a view to completing a season-long loan at Rodney Parade.

South Wales Argus: OUT: Seb Palmer-Houlden has suffered a hamstring tearOUT: Seb Palmer-Houlden has suffered a hamstring tear (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

“It’s a bad one, we are looking at around three months,” said manager Graham Coughlan. “It’s a grade three or four tear of his hamstring, which is not good.

“We are gutted for the kid and, given that he had only just come on the pitch, there is an element of frustration for me.

“Seb is distraught and had a few tears in his eyes after the game, I think that he knew it was a bad one and we got the news on Thursday.

“We had a conversation with Bristol City and his recovery is under way already. It’s just a case of whether he needs surgery or not and fingers crossed he doesn’t because that obviously adds to the recovery time.

“He will still be registered to us while going back to Bristol City for his rehab, they will look after him and when he is nearing full fitness we will pick up the baton. He is one player that we certainly don’t want to lose because he has been exceptional.”

The blow means County are set to add to their striking ranks before the 11pm deadline.

They are hopeful of Will Evans returning for the League Two clash with AFC Wimbledon after he missed the Brentford game with a groin strain.

Omar Bogle and Kiban Rai are the only other fit specialist options on the books at the moment, with Offrande Zanzala aiming for a winter return from ruptured knee ligaments.

The loss of Palmer-Houlden led to Coughlan promising an inquest due to the striker being injured just seconds after coming on and aggressively pressing the Bees defence.

County did that on Wednesday morning and it revealed that there were no clangers by staff - if was just bad luck.

“We watched it back and Ben Mee gave him a slight nudge and you can see the jolt, it’s come from his back and tracked into the hamstring, which went there and then,” said Coughlan.

“We looked at him on the DVD and he did everything, as did the other subs, at half-time and in their warm-ups.

“Everybody has ticked their boxes and were professional so I suppose it’s one of those things; it’s hard to take and you always look for reasons why but we can’t find any.

“We have dug deep, asked questions, gone into preparation and turned every stone over but as staff we have all done our jobs. I just have to accept it was a little bit of bad luck, it was a footballing injury and the nature of the game.”