Will Miller will miss the rest of the season for Burton Albion with a knee injury - although Nigel Clough says it is not as bad as the Brewers first feared.

Albion forward Miller had to be taken off on a stretcher shortly before half-time of Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers after twisting awkwardly off the ball.

Straight after the game, Clough admitted that "it's not looking too good" - and the club have now confirmed that he is out for the remainder of the campaign after detaching his knee cap.

Will Miller is carried off
Will Miller is carried off

But the former Tottenham Hotspur youngster - who had become a regular starter on the right wing over the past two months - has not damaged his ligaments, an injury that would likely have seen him miss the start of next season too.

Instead, Clough is hopeful of having Miller back in time for pre-season training in the summer, although he knows what a blow it is for his side in the here and now.

"It's bad, but not as bad as we'd feared," said the Brewers boss.

"He'll be out for the rest of the season, but it's not a ligament, an ACL or anything like that (the injury Liam Boyce sustained in the summer), which would've been maybe nine months.

"We're hoping he'll be fit for pre-season training.

"That's bad enough, it being six months.

"The impact he has had since coming back has been a very positive one on everybody in the team and the squad.

"He'll be a big miss for us.

"He was a little bit frightened when it happened, I think you saw it on the pitch. Everybody heard something, and then you do fear the worst.

"He's got to take a little bit of consolation in the fact that it isn't the ligament injury.

"I think he has detached his kneecap, or something like that, which is horrific enough, but not as bad as the ligaments."

Miller has become a key operator in the 5-4-1 system that helped Albion to crucial wins over Bolton Wanderers, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday around Christmas.

Will Miller bursts forward for Burton Albion in the 3-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday

His energy on the right flank and willingness to push forward in possession have not gone unnoticed.

"He was so frustrated in the early part of the season with his niggles and his hamstrings," added Clough.

"Then when he did get back, you saw the effect he had.

"I think it summed it up when he won the penalty at Sheffield Wednesday.

"Although we missed it early on, he's lively, he's bright, he nicks the ball and drives forward and wins us a penalty after five minutes.

"He is that sort of infectious character."

Miller's fellow forward Liam Boyce is getting closer to a return from his own long-term knee injury.

The Brewers' record signing ruptured the ACL in his left knee in the pre-season game at Shrewsbury Town in July.

"He's getting close to joining in," added Clough on Boyce's involvement at training.

Liam Boyce of Burton Albion
Liam Boyce of Burton Albion

"He sees the specialist this week just to get the okay.

"And then he will join in with part of the sessions.

"He's been doing the warm-up and a little bit of light ball work - and an awful lot of mind-numbing running on your own round a training pitch.

"Everybody will know, when you're coming back from that sort of injury, you have to do it.

"He is now desperate to join in with the rest of the lads."