Yakubu Aiyegbeni, who has withdrawn from the Nigeria squad for Wednesday’s friendly with South Africa, may be out of action for up to six weeks after a scan revealed medial ligament damage.

“The extent of the injury seems similar to the one picked up by Arjan De Zeeuw (earlier this season),” Gary Sadler, physio at Yakubu’s Premier League club Portsmouth, told the BBC.

“Maybe we’ll be a little bit luckier with Yak and it might only be four weeks till he’s back,” he added.

The 21-year-old picked up the injury during Portsmouth’s 2-1 defeat at Southampton, on Saturday.