Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson will likely miss the final three matches of the Twenty20 International series against Pakistan.
Williamson, 33, retired hurt in New Zealand's 21-run win at Hamilton's Seddon Park, after suffering a hamstring injury while batting.
The white-ball skipper was already scheduled to miss game three of the five match series, to avoid travelling to Dunedin as part of managing his injured knee after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture in April 2023.
Will Young was already due to join the Blackcaps for game three, but will now stay with the squad for the rest of the series.
As the rest of the squad heads to Dunedin, Williamson has returned to his Tauranga home and will have a scan to determine how serious his injury is.
With the Blackcaps to face both South Africa and Australia this summer as part of the World Test Championship, and a T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA in June, Stead says Williamson will likely concentrate on what's to come beyond the Pakistan series.
"I think it's unlikely he will play," said Stead. "With the test matches so close as well and probably in the big scheme of things in the short term for us, there's higher priorities.
"I think it's likely we'll try and make sure he's right for that."
The hamstring worry is just the latest for Williamson, who spent nearly all 2023 sidelined by his knee injury. Despite an expected recovery of more than nine months, he returned early to play at the 50-over Cricket World Cup.
Stead has already made it clear Williamson's knee will need to be managed, with this latest hamstring concern occurring in the same leg, but the Blackcaps captain's standards don't appear to have fallen.
"The knee injury was clearly a really serious thing," Stead continued. "It can take anywhere from 12-18 months to come completely right.
"He's done remarkably well so far to get back and do what he has done. The amazing thing is how well he's come in and performed as well.
"Kane is a prodigious trainer in the nets, loves to hit balls and work on his game. By his standards, he hasn't quite done as much as he'd like, but he's still showing the results, which is amazing in itself."
The Blackcaps face Pakistan in game three of the five-match series on Wednesday, before games four and five at Christchurch on Friday and Sunday.
Join Newshub at 1pm Wednesday for live updates of the third Blackcaps v Pakistan T20
