Fulham midfielder Simon Davies to miss Fulham's opening Europa League match -and he could even miss the start of the Premiership season.
The Wales international has failed to recover from a stress fracture of the foot that sidelined him for the last five games of the season.
In fact, the 29-year-old was left behind in England as Fulham took on Gold Coast United in the first match of their pre-season trip to Australia yesterday and will take no part in the third round tie of the revamped UEFA Cup on July 30.
The draw is due to be made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon tomorrow. Speaking exclusively to your favourite local paper from Down Under, boss Roy Hodgson admitted he's 'extremely' short of midfielders.
He said: "Simon is still only able to train with exercises like straight-line drills following surgery. It was better he stayed back to work on his recuperation, although we're hopeful he'll be ready for the start of the Premiership.
"With one thing and another, we haven't got a great midfield selection right now."