Brentford and Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo will miss the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) after undergoing surgery on his injured ankle.
The 24-year-old will be out for around 12 weeks, said Bees boss Thomas Frank.
Mbeumo, Brentford’s top Premier League scorer with seven goals this season, suffered the injury in their 2-1 defeat at Brighton on 6 December.
Afcon begins on 13 January in Ivory Coast with Cameroon starting their campaign against Guinea two days later.
“Bryan is a positive guy, he will come back stronger,” added Frank. “He has a very good mindset.”
Mbeumo has scored three times in 14 caps for Cameroon and started all three of the Indomitable Lions’ matches at the 2022 World Cup.
His absence adds to a lengthy Brentford injury list already including Kristoffer Ajer, Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Mathias Jensen and Kevin Schade.
They have also been without last term’s suspended top scorer Ivan Toney all campaign, although he will be eligible to return from an eight-month betting ban on 20 January.
“Almost from game one we’ve struggled a little bit with injuries,” said Frank, who was speaking before Sunday’s Premier League game at home to Aston Villa.
“We need to look at it in January, but we never rush into things. We try to be clever and take calm and sensible decisions.
“We will not take a player if we don’t think it’s for the longer term. Maybe this time a loan, but it depends on how things go over the next three or four weeks.”
