Celtic star Hatem Abd Elhamed is set to miss six weeks with the defender ruled out of the Betfred Cup Final against Rangers.
The Israeli defender limped off with a groin problem in the Parkhead's side heroic victory against Lazio.
It was first expected he would miss around three to four weeks, but his agent Dudu Dahan revealed he will be on the sidelines for a longer period of time.
That means he will miss the Hampden clash on December 8 against Rangers as the city rivals fight it out for the first piece of silverware this season.
Neil Lennon could now hand rising star Jeremie Frimpong a start after his string of impressive performances in recent weeks. Summer signing Moritz Bauer is also an option for Celtic.
Elhamed took to Instagram to inform fans of the lay off last week after the initial diagnosis.
He said: “Bad news this moring but I will be back stronger. Thank God always."
The Hoops paid a fee of £1.6million to sign him from Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the summer and Lennon has praised his impact in recent weeks.
He said: “For the money we bought him for he’s proving to be real value for money. But we looked and looked and looked at him.
“Then we looked at him again and were always wondering: ‘What’s wrong with him? Where is the flaw?’
“Every time, though, we went back to him, looked at the footage again and looked at other players.
“And finally we thought: ‘We’ve got to trust our eyes, trust our instincts.’
“I’ve a good relationship with his agent who was waxing lyrical about Hatem ... as agents do. But he has been true to his word so far – Hatem has been excellent."
