Club Brugge suffer Hoefkens blow

Carl Hoefkens could be forced to miss Club Brugge KV's remaining UEFA Europa League Group J matches after being ruled out of action for six weeks with a partially torn right knee ligament.

Important matches
The 31-year-old defender was injured in the match against K. Sint-Truidense VV on Saturday and a subsequent medical examination revealed the severity of the blow. "This is a bad moment to get injured as some important matches await us," said Hoefkens, who has started his recovery programme. Club Brugge are the Belgian league leaders and visit defending champions R. Standard de Liège on Sunday following Thursday's UEFA Europa League trip to FK Partizan. Hoefkens is also likely to miss the away match against FC Shakhtar Donetsk and is doubtful for their final section meeting with Toulouse FC on 16 December. Adrie Koster's second-placed charges sit level with their French rivals on four points from three matches.