Asamoah Gyan, the most high-profile Pro League signing over the summer, may be out of action for a lengthy period for a suspected hamstring injury after last night's 4-0 win over Emirates in the Pro League.
The Ghana international who is on a one-year loan from Sunderland, the English Premier League club, pulled up after chasing a through ball early in the game on Friday.
He returned with a heavy strapping around his thigh but was forced to leave on the half hour.
"I don't know the extent of Gyan's injury until I get the medical report but the number of injuries we have had really worries me," said Cosmin Olaroiu, Al Ain's Romanian coach, at the post-match conference.
"I can only wish Gyan's injury is not a serious one. We already have a few players out with injuries and if the damage on Gyan's leg is a serious one it certainly would be a severe blow for us.
"I have not put a lot of pressure on my players already knowing that we have a lot injured players but sometimes they cannot be avoided and sometimes just unfortunate.
"Only time will tell the extent of Gyan's injury," he added.
Gyan opened the scoring from a sixth-minute penalty to take his tally to 10 goals and extended his lead to three from his closest challenger in the Pro League scoring chart to three more than Ricardo Oliveira, Al Jazira's Brazilian forward and the league's most expensive signing at Dh62 million.
If it is a hamstring injury, Gyan, may be out of action for more than a month and would miss the next two league games against Al Shabab on January 4 and Ajman on January 15, and the President's Cup quarter-final with Baniyas on January 9.
He will also likely be out of the Ghana national team in the African Cup of Nations from January 21 to February 12 co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Yasser Al Qahtani, the Saudi Arabia forward, has been out for more than a month, and joining him in the list of injured players are Ali Al Wehaibi, Omar Abdulrahman, Ismail Ahmed and Fares Juma.
apassela@thenational.ae
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