GOAL star Dean Holdsworth is cursing his luck today after being struck down in his prime - by grass cuttings.

The in-form striker, who put Wanderers back on the winning trail with a sensational fourth goal of the season against Wolves on Saturday, is out of tomorrow night's Reebok duel with away-day specialists Nottingham Forest and could be struggling to be fit for the heavyweight bout with Watford on Tuesday week.

Early assessments of the groin and hamstring strains that forced the impressive Holdsworth to retire after just 44 minutes of his all-action duel with the Wolves defence suggest he will be lucky to be back within a fortnight.

It was an injury which, as Sam Allardyce admitted, could have been avoided.

"Deano picked up a little bit of a groin (strain) on our training ground on Thursday because of the fact that we couldn't clear off the grass cuttings because it was so wet!" the manager explained.

"They got tangled around his boots and he slipped and felt his groin a little bit. He managed to start the game, which was very important because he looked on top of his form. It was disappointing that he had to come off when he did but he'd scored what must be equal to the Goal of the Season.

"I certainly can't see him being fit for tomorrow and he'll probably miss the Saturday game (at Stockport). After that we'd hope to get him back."

Better news for Wanderers on the fitness front is that Paul Warhurst and Mike Whitlow, both sidelined for much of the season, will return to training this week while Gudni Bergsson, who left the field seven minutes from time after scoring the winner against Wolves, suffered nothing more serious than a bout of cramp.

Bergsson, whose performance against Wolves won him the first Man of the Match award voted for by members of the Reebok Platinum Suite, should be fit to lead the team against Forest, whose win at Barnsley on Saturday was their fourth away victory of the season.