Dirk Kuyt is sidelined by the shoulder injury he sustained while training with Holland on Monday and Hodgson fears the frontman could be out for longer than first thought.

Initially it was believed that Kuyt would be back in action within a month.

The manager admits losing the services of the hard-working Dutchman is a bitter pill to swallow.

“It could be more than four weeks,” he added. “It’s one of those injuries where it’s very difficult for the doctor to say and I think four weeks is a very conservative estimate.

“If we’re lucky it could be earlier, but it could be longer. We have to be very careful because it’s the type of injury that has to be treated with a lot of respect. It’s a great blow for us because Dirk is an important member of our first team.

“He does a job which is not easy to replace because he has all the qualities required for that role on the field.

“I was very sad to see such a thing happen, especially in a training session. It would have been bad enough to happen playing for the national team in a competitive match, but for it to happen in training was even more of a blow. He’s a quick mender and has a great mentality and attitude towards recovery, so he’ll be back as quick as is humanly possible.”