Huddersfield Town have confirmed that January signing Joe Taylor is expected to be out of action for *four to six weeks* with a hamstring injury.

The talented striker started matches against Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers after joining the club from Luton Town earlier this month, but the forward was left out of the squad for Tuesday’s defeat to Birmingham City.

The club released a statement this afternoon to explain Taylor’s absence from the loss in midweek, saying: “Unfortunately, forward Joe Taylor has sustained a small hamstring complaint following our League One fixture with Bolton Wanderers, and will now spend a short time out of the side as a result.

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“Unaware of the injury at the time of its occurrence, Taylor first reported a slight discomfort the following day during recovery sessions, with the club’s medical department submitting him for precautionary scans as best practice, with no obvious ailment evident following initial checks.

“With fellow new signing Dion Charles remaining available alongside Callum Marshall, Rhys Healey and Bojan Radulovic, it was deemed prudent to not risk Taylor against Birmingham City, with the possibility of further injuring or aggravating any issue not an option.

“Having seen his playing time limited this season prior to joining the club, this small break away from the side will allow Taylor the opportunity to further fine tune his body at Canalside ahead of his return, with the 22-year-old already at an advantage thanks to the excellent condition he keeps himself in as standard.

"Joe’s arrival marked a significant long-term investment for the Club, and our excitement was gladly mirrored in the response to his arrival by supporters. We are not blind to the obvious frustration this news will cause within our fan base, but that emotion is only shared by both Joe and ourselves, which is why we felt it necessary to take the unusual step of discussing this matter in greater detail.

"Our injury record this season has been far from ideal, and personnel changes within our Physical Performance department have been made at a senior level as a direct result of this. With no history of such issues or suggestion of reoccurrence if allowed to heal correctly, we maintain complete faith in our medical team to continue operating to their high standards alongside our remaining Performance staff to ensure Joe’s swift return."

Discussing Taylor’s injury at his pre-match press conference today, Duff said: “Joe’s felt something in his hamstring, it’s been scanned and he’s got something in his hamstring unfortunately.

“It’s a bit of a strange one that we don’t actually know when he did it, because he didn’t come off on Saturday against Bolton complaining of it, we took him off to try and manage his minutes so he doesn’t break.

“He came in Sunday, he felt okay and didn’t report anything, and then Monday just felt what he described as a cramp sensation. He didn’t quite feel right, so we x-rayed it as a precaution, and it’s popped up with a semi-significant hamstring injury.

“It’s a strange one. You look at Lasse Sorensen when he did a similar type thing, there’s a big mechanism that you can visually see [it], Joe’s felt nothing. It’s a blow, it’s disappointing for him, disappointing for us – bad luck strikes again.”

When asked how long Taylor will be out for, Duff replied: “You’re looking at four to six weeks I think. It’s very similar to the (David) Kasumu one, [and] the Lasse Sorensen second time round one.”