Leeds United head coach Uwe Rosler has confirmed that midfielder Tommaso Bianchi is facing a spell out on the sidelines, something the German tactician has bemoaned as he was keen to see him in action.
Bianchi picked up an injury in Leeds' recent friendly fixture against German Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt and now faces a similar type of operation to that underwent by fellow midfielder Luke Murphy earlier this summer.
That means the Italian faces time out, something Rosler admits is not ideal ahead of the new Championship season.
He told his club's site: "Unfortunately we have to announce that Tommaso Bianchi will have a cartilage operation on Monday.
"It’s a similar thing to what Luke Murphy had and he will be back between four to six weeks", the coach continued.
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"Unfortunately that happened against Frankfurt in a dual. It’s an impact injury and we hope everything goes well."
Rosler believes that Bianchi was performing well over Leeds' pre-season preparations, which makes his injury a particularly cruel blow.
However, the head coach feels that the Italian has a good portion of pre-season under his belt which should mean he has a fair level of fitness to work with when he does recover from his injury blow.
Rosler explained: "I felt he did very well. He played a lot of minutes – especially early on in pre-season – and he got stronger and stronger in each game.
"I was really looking forward to seeing him in competitive game.
"But he has a good base of fitness and that will not be lost in two weeks before he can start running again."
Leeds play their final pre-season match tomorrow when they host Everton at Elland Road.
