Brighton & Hove Albion are likely to be without Aaron Hughes for a number of weeks because of an ankle injury that will also see him miss Northern Ireland's upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania.
The 34-year-old landed awkwardly in Saturday evening's Championship match at Bournemouth, and Brighton are still waiting to find out exactly how severe the problem is.
Seagulls boss Sami Hyypia told The Argus: "There is nothing on the bone, so that's a good thing. If the bone was broken or something happened to the bone it would be a long process.
"Now we are waiting for the swelling to go down. Then we will be able to assess it a little bit better.
"If it's ligament damage we are talking about weeks more than months I think."
Hughes has played every minute of Northern Ireland's best ever start to a major qualifying campaign which has left them sitting top of Group F with three wins out of three.
