Real Madrid star Gareth Bale will be "devastated" by his latest injury setback, according to Wales manager Chris Coleman.
Bale, 28, is set to miss another month after confirmation of a strained adductor muscle.
The star attacker has played just nine games in all competitions this season, with the last of those coming in September.
Coleman said he was unsure about the severity of Bale's latest setback, but he knows the Wales international will be shattered.
"I don't know the full extent of it. He'll be devastated," he told UK newspapers.
"We haven't had dialogue with Real Madrid, but we'll speak with Gareth in the next few days and find out exactly what it is. It's bad luck, bad news, and he'll be gutted.
"The harder you try to get back you get a setback and sometimes you have to go through that.
"He'll get over [it] and he'll be back. He just needs to get settled again and get his fitness. He needs to take his time and not rush himself back."
Coleman has no plans to change the way he uses Bale for Wales, saying he would be picked to play as long as he was fit for Madrid.
Wales, who missed out on qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, will play in the China Cup – alongside the hosts, Uruguay and the Czech Republic – in March next year.
"It all depends on his fitness whether he'll travel. Hopefully he gets back before Christmas or just after and then we've got two or three months before the China Cup," Coleman said.
"We expect all our players if they are fit to play for their club then they are fit to play for us.
"We never take risks, we've never done that and I don't see that changing in the future. If he's fit for Madrid then obviously he's fit for us."
