Manchester City centre-back Ruben Dias is expected to be sidelined for up to a month with a thigh injury, according to reports in the UK.

The Portuguese international initially picked up the problem during the World Cup round of 16 tie against Switzerland. Instead of coming off the pitch, he stayed on and then managed to suffer through the pain barrier to play the full 90 minutes against Morocco too.

That decision may have big consequences for City’s season, though, as Dias is now set to miss up to five matches, having already been absent for the win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Thursday night.

The 25-year-old won’t feature versus Leeds on Wednesday, and he will also be absent for the home fixture against Everton on Saturday week. The league and FA Cup doubleheader versus Chelsea is also a no-go while he is not expected to be in contention to face Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-final either.

Funnily enough, the game that is pencilled in for Dias’s return would be the Manchester derby versus United on January 14th.