Nathan Collins, the Brentford captain and Republic of Ireland defender, has been ruled out with a calf injury and will not return until after the international break, manager Keith Andrews confirmed on Friday.
How the injury happened
Collins was hurt during Brentford's 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Saturday, 5 September, a match in which Vitaly Janelt's second-half goal was cancelled out by Eiran Le Fee's late penalty. "He probably felt it a little bit earlier in the game and tried to play through it, naturally," Andrews said, adding that playing through pain was typical of one of the club's leaders and captains.
Timeline and matches missed
"No, he won't be involved this side of the international break," Andrews said. That rules Collins out of Saturday's Premier League trip to Bournemouth and any fixtures before the Republic of Ireland face Kosovo, Israel and Austria in Nations League matches between 24 September and 4 October, with the game against Israel staged in Hungary and Serbia.
Absentees mount for Andrews
Collins joins Antoni Milambo, Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen and Sepp van den Berg on Brentford's injuries list, leaving Andrews short of options at centre-back.
Brentford sit fifth in the Premier League on 5 points from three games, four points behind leaders Manchester City, and their upcoming games can be found on the fixtures page before they host Chelsea, fourth in the table, at home on 18 September.
