Gold Coast playmaker Tyrone Roberts appears certain to miss Friday’s NRL derby against Brisbane.

Roberts injured a knee in Saturday’s come-from-behind win over Canberra and coach Neil Henry said the ex-Newcastle half is unlikely to recover in time to take on the Broncos.

The 24-year-old will undergo scans on Tuesday but Henry is pessimistic about Roberts’ chances of being fit for the clash.

If Roberts is unavailable it leaves Henry with a halves headache in terms of who he’ll pick to partner ex-Bronco Ashley Taylor.

With Kane Elgey (knee) already out for the season, Henry admits he’ll have some thinking to do about just how his team lines up.

One option could be sending veteran Greg Bird to the five-eighth position in direct opposition with Brisbane sensation Anthony Milford.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what we do there,” he said.

“We’ve got Cameron Cullen whose playing some good footy for Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup and we’ve got Birdy that likes to play there too.

“He’s been very good for us at lock and he offers us a pass there too. That’s his go, being in the middle. It’s a bit of a risk, we’ll wait and see.”

Henry said co-captains Nathan Friend and Will Zillman will also have to be assessed later in the week.

Friend was a late scratching for the trip to Canberra after suffering two head knocks in the opening three rounds while Zillman (calf) is yet to play a minute this season.

“(Friend) needs to get into a bit of contact tomorrow and just see how he is,” Henry said.

“I thought Kierran Moseley was good and Daniel Mortimer’s been good in the middle there … we’re not devoid of options there.

“Zilly is a chance. He’s in the mix. He’s done everything was required the previous week. He just needs to get through this week.”