Zach Clough was a player with a bright future ahead of him in the early stages of his career, but his development has somewhat stalled in recent seasons. 

But the Nottingham Forest striker has been limited to just 25 appearances across a two-year-spell with the Reds.

His lack of game time meant that he was sent out on loan to League One side, Rochdale, but he hasn't endured the best of spells with the club.

Clough has had a number of injury problems in recent years which have hindered his development, and he has picked up yet another frustrating blow.

He suffered a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury, and is now set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

When he returns, he'll be hoping that Rochdale have fought their way out of the relegation zone, as they are currently a point adrift of safety with just eight games remaining of this year's campaign.

It seems unlikely that Clough has much of a future at Nottingham Forest, and he'll be keen to recover from this latest setback as quickly as possible.

If he can do that, then he'll fancy his chances of staking a claim to Martin O'Neill for a regular starting spot in the Forest squad for next season.

But with Clough ruled out of action for 3-4 weeks, he doesn't have much game time to impress the Nottingham Forest boss.

If you put yourself in Clough's shoes, then you're surely going to be fearing for your future at the City Ground, as not only is he out of favour, but he's had a number of injury problems.

With just a handful of starts to his name over the last two years for the Reds, his future seems bleak and he could be heading for the exit door in the summer.

Forest need to rebuild ahead of next season and clear out the deadwood, with Clough likely to fall under that category, especially with his reoccurring injury problems.