Blackburn Rovers face a fresh defensive injury blow after Derrick Williams returned from international duty with a calf injury. 

Williams, who scored in the Republic of Ireland's 3-1 friendly win over New Zealand on Thursday evening, was forced off in the second-half due to a calf strain.

What was thought to be just a strain, has now forced Williams to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad, with the side's official Twitter account confirming on Friday that Williams will miss Monday night's Euro 2020 qualifier with Denmark.

After a scan, Williams has now returned to Ewood Park to further assess his injury over the rest of the international break.

Williams has completed 90 minutes of action in Rovers' last 15 games after missing pre-season due to a similar injury.

Should this injury be more serious than first thought would be a big blow to Tony Mowbray, who is already without Williams' fellow centre-half Darragh Lenihan.

Speaking of Williams' injury, Mick McCarthy said: "Derrick felt his calf in the second half of the game and our medical team have assessed him today, he will go back to his club now and we wish him well. He was one of our best players on Thursday night and deserved his goal."

Despite being initially optimistic, it does now look like the injury could be worse than both the player and the manager would have feared.

After Thursday's win, Williams had appeared optimistic and told the post-match media, as transcribed in the Lancashire Telegraph that: "I'm disappointed I had to come off. Hopefully my injury is okay and I’ve put a few thoughts in the gaffer’s head."

The Verdict 

This latest news is no doubt a massive blow for Blackburn Rovers and will have the management team and supporters on edge until a further update is provided.

In October, fellow defender and Republic of Ireland man Darragh Lenihan was rule out for eight weeks with a hamstring injury.

Left-back Greg Cunningham is also out for the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in October.

Rovers will be hoping that this latest injury is nowhere near as serious as the other two, with the side increasingly running low on defensive numbers.