Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke will be out for up to six weeks, ruling him out of Belgium's final World Cup qualifiers.
The star striker, who has already bagged five goals for Paul Lambert's side this season, limped out of the 1-0 win over Norwich at the weekend.
The Belgium international was sent for scans amid fears that the damage could have been bad enough to sideline him for months, rather than weeks. But the tests revealed the extent of the injury was not as serious as initially thought, although he is unlikely to return to action until early November.
Following the 4-0 drubbing by Tottenham in the Capital One Cup, Lambert confirmed that the news on Benteke could have been far worse.
Paul Lambert confirms Christian Benteke will be out for four-six weeks. Better news than he first feared. #AVFC
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) September 24, 2013
"It is not as bad as we feared it was going to be," said Lambert. "Maybe four, five, six weeks or so. The medical people give you the best and worst case scenario. You are never quite sure until you hear from the professor."
Lambert added: "Thankfully it is not too serious. It has got a lot better and he is feeling a lot better and the international break certainly helps us."
Lambert is also confident that Benteke will not require an operation to cure the problem.
"It's just a muscle injury. It's nothing like that. It's not too severe," the Villa boss added. "We will try to get him back as quick as possible."
The injury also rules Benteke out of Belgium's final World Cup qualifiers against Croatia and Wales next month.
