St Pauli defender Moritz Volz will miss the rest of the season after breaking his shin in training yesterday.
The 28-year-old suffered the injury during a tackle with Gerald Asamoah yesterday and had to be carried to the treatment room, where the diagnosis was made.
"This is a shock for me," said Volz, who had only recently managed to hold down a regular starting berth in Holger Stanislawski's side.
"I will now have to agree with the club doctors what will be the best course of treatment to get me back onto the field as quickly as possible."
I was just very unfortunate to get injured. Gerald has absolutely no blame at all for the injury.
Moritz Volz, St Pauli defender
Volz, who joined St Pauli last summer after spending almost a year searching for a club following his release from Fulham, has made a total of nine appearances for the Hamburg suburban side this season.
He becomes the latest in a string of St Pauli defenders to pick up an injury.
"This is very bitter for Volzy and for the team," said Stanislawski on his club's website. "We have lost yet another alternative in the defence, but we have got to come through this. I wish him a quick and good recovery."
Volz also stated that Asamoah was not to blame at all for the injury. "It was just a normal tackle," he said. "I was just very unfortunate to get injured. Gerald has absolutely no blame at all for the injury."