Dean Windass is worried he could miss up to a MONTH of City's season with a calf injury.

Windass was having a scan last night to assess the damage after pulling up suddenly in training.

Boss Colin Todd remained hopeful that the problem in his right leg would not prove as serious as first thought - and has not ruled him out of Tuesday's trip to Bournemouth.

But Windass, City's top scorer with 12 goals, reckons he could be stuck on the sidelines for the busiest period of the season.

He said: "I've had a pain in my right calf for a couple of days but I wanted to train and didn't last 30 seconds. As soon as I started skipping, it felt as though someone had put a knife in the back of my leg.

"Maybe I should have told the manager that I shouldn't have trained but that's the way I am. I thought it might be a little bit of cramp but I knew straight away it was something more.

"I had the same sort of injury when I was at Middlesbrough and was out for a month so it doesn't look good.

"I'm gutted about it because you don't want to miss games when you are playing well and scoring goals." An injury to such a key player could not come at a worse time for

Todd with City facing seven games over the holiday period, including the West Yorkshire derby at Huddersfield. Nicky Summerbee and Zema Abbey are also suspended.

Todd was putting on a brave face at the prospect of losing the team's talisman.

He said: "I still remain upbeat that he will be all right. There are nearly four days before the decision has to be made.

"We would certainly miss him. But if it's not to be then we'll just have to shuffle the pack."

If Windass is crocked, Todd will have to pair Michael Symes and Danny Forrest in a rookie strikeforce at Dean Court.

Windass added: "It would have been a difficult game anyway but obviously with me out as well as the two lads suspended then it's even harder. The squad is not the biggest and we're down to the bare bones.

"But it's a great opportunity for those players to come in and prove they're good enough. Hopefully Michael and Danny or Kevin Sanasy will get a few goals to keep us up near the top of the league."