Dean Smith has confirmed that Brentford fear Josh McEachran has been ruled out for the rest of the season with another broken foot.

The former Chelsea midfielder suffered the injury in training last week and has seen a specialist.

And Smith, who is faced with a depleted squad for Saturday's trip to Nottingham Forest, is waiting to see if McEachran will require surgery.

The Bees head coach said: “He's been to see a specialist. We fear it may be a refracture of the second metatarsal. If so, he might have to have surgery. If it requires surgery, he'll be out for the season.”

John Swift is also a doubt for the trip to the City Ground after suffering a cut Achilles while on England U21 duty.

Smith explained: “It was a poor tackle. He caught him down the back of the Achilles and he had five stitches there. It's very angry at the moment so he's a doubt for Saturday.”

Lewis Macleod is unlikely to make another appearance for Brentford this season as the injections into his knee didn't have the success the club wanted.

Smith confirmed: “Lewis is having another course of injections into the knee. The original ones haven't aided him as we hoped.

“I think he's having more injections into there now. I don't know if he's out for the rest of the season.

“We've got a six week, nine game season. He's not trained since the Brighton game. It's unfortunate for the lad as he'd got on the pitch and the fans finally saw him.”

Elsewhere, Philipp Hofmann is on the way to a return to the first team after suffering a back injury.

Smith explained: “Philipp Hofmann has been on the grass. He's starting to work after coming back from chronic back pain. It's not been a great treatment room. It's been hard.”

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 13: Atdhe Nuhiu of Sheffield Wednesday and Philipp Hofmann of Brentford challenge for the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Brentford at Hillsborough Stadium on February 13, 2016 in Sheffield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Scott Hogan, who returned against Blackburn after two cruciate ligmaent injuries, has been struggling with a hamstring complaint.

Smith revealed: “Scott Hogan has had a tight hamstring. He's back training tomorrow. I'm hoping he'll be available.”

There is good news regarding Andreas Bjelland and Andy Gogia who have stepped up their recovery for injuries.

Smith said: “Andreas Bjelland has joined in in training with us in the ball work. He's been more of a floater rather than getting involved in any tackles. I can't forsee him coming back this season.

“Andy has come back from injury as well. Whether he's ready to play 90 minutes or not, I don't know. He's available for the squad on Saturday.”