WANDERERS are preparing to break bad news on young striker Max Clayton.

The club has deliberately kept its own counsel after the 20-year-old was stretchered off in last weekend’s goalless draw with Reading.

But Neil Lennon is expected to announce at his press conference this morning that the former Crewe front man faces months on the sidelines with knee ligament damage.

Clayton had scans earlier this week to determine the extent of the injury, but the signs did not look good at the time when he broke down off the ball before being attended to by the club’s medical staff.

His absence for tomorrow’s trip to Millwall comes as an extra blow to Neil Lennon, who has already resigned himself to being without Joe Mason and Mark Davies until well into the New Year.

Clayton had offered some width on the left – a rarity in an incredibly narrow team – and had featured in nine consecutive games, starting the last five.

His place could be taken by Rob Hall, who has also made fleeting appearances off the bench in the last few weeks.

Lennon also hopes to have Craig Davies back in action after he sat out the Reading game with a hamstring strain.

The club also gave a tantalising glimpse of Emile Heskey at work with Wanderers when they posted a picture of him training on their Twitter feed yesterday, fuelling speculation that the former England striker could be given a short-term deal at the Macron Stadium.

Heskey returned to Euxton at the start of the week after undertaking some ambassadorial duties with Leicester City in India.

He has not played competitive football since leaving Australian side Newcastle Jets in April and has not featured in an English game since May 2012, when he turned out for Aston Villa at Norwich City.

Lennon could also draw on the experience of Eidur Gudjohnsen at The Den and the Icelander is intrigued to see if Heskey can convince Wanderers to offer him a contract similar to his own.

“He's a physical presence and you can still see it,” he said. “There's not much changed in him. If he wants to play and if he's hungry to play then I'd love for him to be with us.

“Any bit of quality, any bit of experience, any bit of competition within the group is always helpful and whether it's him or other players, we want to find a healthy competition to get the best out of each other.”