Struggling Leicester City have been hit by the news that goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is out of action for at least a month.
The Denmark international broke a metatarsal in training on Thursday and will undergo surgery on Friday, manager Nigel Pearson said.
"Kasper will be having an operation tomorrow on a metatarsal that he's unfortunately broken this morning," Pearson told Leicester's official website.
"There was no contact. It's very unfortunate. Clearly the lad is distressed about it, and he'll be a big miss for us. What you have to do is deal with it -- we can't change it.
"The best thing to do is give an update on Saturday. Hopefully he'll have the operation tomorrow.
"An optimistic view would be four to six weeks, but it could be longer. We don't know what the surgeon will find when he deals with the situation."
The injury means Leicester will turn to deputy goalkeeper Ben Hamer for the home game against Manchester City on Saturday.
The Foxes are bottom of the Premier League table, having failed to notch up a victory since their 5-3 home win over Manchester United in September.