Arsenal skipper Tony Adams has been forced to put his long-awaited comeback on hold after just one match back in the Gunners first team.
The England veteran hobbled away from Saturday's 5-2 FA Cup fifth round win over Gillingham at Highbury after suffering a reaction to the foot injury that sidelined him for five months.
The news is a huge blow to boss Arsene Wenger as the Gunners return to Champions League action against Bayer Leverkusen tomorrow.
Wenger now faces a defensive headache with Martin Keown, Matthew Upson and Ashley Cole already ruled out by injury. Oleg Luzhny also misses the trip to Germany through suspension.
Wenger told the Sun: "Tony's absence will make a major difference to our organisation for Tuesday. One of our problems in Europe all season has been the constant changes to our defence. It will be the same again this time, but what can we do about it?
"It helps that we will have Lauren and [Giovanni] van Bronckhorst back. But with Tony now out, our only options are Gilles Grimandi or Igor Stepanovs," he said.
PA