TEHRAN, February 04 (MNA) – Malian forward of Esteghlal FC, Cheick Diabate, is expected to miss three weeks after injuring his foot in Saturday match in Iran Professional League against Naft Masjed Soleyman.The bad news for Esteghlal fans came as their team is scheduled to hold a match with archrival Persepolis FC on Thursday at Azadi Stadium, a match which is also known as Tehran Derby.

Esteghlal should win the match to remain in the race of the IPL title.

Suffering an injury 15 minutes into the game on Saturday, he was forced to leave the field.

“The MRI showed that he has suffered a minor quadriceps strain,” said the team’s doctor Kaveh Sotoudeh, adding that he may need two or three weeks for returning to the field.

The striker may also miss two first matches of the Blues against Iraq’s Al Shorta and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League.

The Malian forward has scored eight goals in the domestic league and three goals in the 2020 ACL Preliminary Stage and is certainly one the pillars of Farhad Majidi’s team.

“Diabate is one of our best and influential players but be sure that there are others that can fill in for him,” Majidi told reporters on the sidelines of the team’s training on Tuesday.

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