The Tottenham Hotspur youngster is currently out on loan in the Championship and was just starting get going at his new club
Tottenham striker Mason Melia faces four to six weeks out with a thigh injury, football.london understands.
The highly-rated 18-year-old has just got going on a season-long loan at Championship side Lincoln City. Melia, who made his Republic of Ireland senior debut this summer, had come off the bench in three of Lincoln's previous six matches and started one but is now expected to miss more than a month of action after scan results brought bad news.
There is a big three-week international break coming up which means the Spurs youngster will not miss too many matches for Lincoln, but he is likely to be unavailable for Ireland, who face four matches in the Nations League against Kosovo, Israel, Austria and Israel again.
Melia received his Irish debut earlier this summer before he has even played a competitive match for Tottenham. He arrived at Spurs in January this year after the north London club agreed a deal with St Patrick's Athletic to bring him over once he turned 18, with the transfer worth an initial £1.6million - a record figure for the League of Ireland - with the potential for future add-ons to double it.
FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
The Lilywhites handed the youngster a long contract until 2031 as they fended off various other top Premier League and European clubs to sign one of the brightest young talents in Irish football.
A back problem and a chest infection slowed down Melia's introduction to Tottenham life, but he was involved with Roberto De Zerbi's first team during the summer and went on the tour to New Zealand and Australia.
He played 98 senior games for St Pat's before arriving at Tottenham, having registered 25 goals and eight assists. Now the teenager will be looking to continue his experience of senior football and show what he can do in the Championship when he returns from this injury.