Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looks certain to miss the FA Cup semifinal against Reading next Saturday after a further setback with a groin injury.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, 21, has been out of action since suffering a torn hamstring in the FA Cup win at Manchester United a month ago. He was already troubled by the groin problem, which he has since aggravated.
It is reported that the England international will not be able to return for at least another two weeks, and could yet face surgery at the end of the season.
He has suffered a string of injuries over the past two years which have hampered his progress -- limiting him to just six Premier League starts last season and 17 this campaign.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger hopes that an operation will not be necessary.
Wenger told reporters: "It is taking a bit longer than I thought because he has a groin inflammation. It is related to everything before.
"I hope it does not become a long-term problem, but he faces a hurdle this week in training. We will see if he has recovered well.
"The end of this week and the start of next week are important to see if he got rid of that inflammation. It is not his hamstring anymore. It is groin inflammation."
Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Debuchy, Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere are now back from their own injury problems but Wenger warned them they would have to fight for their places.
He added: "They were at a good level physically and should all be available from now on until the end of the season hopefully.
"There are 25 individual cases who deserve to play, but we are all here to serve Arsenal Football Club and that is it.
"We are all in a fantastic position [second in the Premier League] but our job is competing. You cannot say that you have to accept to compete. If you cannot compete, then you have nothing to do in this job."