Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe faces up to a month on the sidelines after his club confirmed he will undergo groin surgery in the coming days.
The England frontman will go under the knife in a bid to cure a problem that has dogged him since the World Cup.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp revealed that his 27-year-old hitman will be out for a minimum of two weeks and maybe even as long as a month.
Such a lay-off would mean he will sit out his club's Premier League games against West Brom and Wolves, on top of England's Euro 2012 openers on 3rd and 7th September.
He had been due to have the operation on 19th August but the German professional who performed a similar operation on team-mate Alan Hutton was unavailable at that time.
Defoe missed Saturday's Premier League 2-1 win at Stoke after aggravating the problem but he is expected to play some part in Wednesday's must-win UEFA Champions League clash with Young Boys.
"He's not trained a lot," Redknapp said. "When he has trained, he's been all right, he's been sticking goals in.
"But then he's had days off where he couldn't train. And he's getting worse, he's getting worse all the time.
"60 minutes is about as much as he can last."
Redknapp, who has yet to decide whether Defoe will start at White Hart Lane, added: "It might only be half a game he can last now, but it's getting less each time - the pain's getting worse.
"He wants to play and train all the time but he's got to have it done now. He can't go on like that."
Defoe's injury helps explain his goalless start to the season, but Redknapp still hopes he breaks his duck before his operation.
"Wednesday night might be the night for him to come back with a bang and start scoring a few," Redknapp said.
"I don't want to pile pressure on him about it. He scores goals in training every day."
