Leicester City are not putting a date on when defender Matt Upson will be back in action.
The former England international has missed nearly all of City's pre-season preparations with a foot injury.
Assistant manager Craig Shakespeare said it had been a very frustrating time for Upson.
Upson, who had his injury problems earlier in his career, enjoyed a relatively injury-free campaign for Brighton last season.
The centre-half is now likely to miss the start of the Premier League season.
"It has been very tough for Matt because, after joining us, he hasn't been able to train," said Shakespeare.
"He has spent most of the time having treatment, which makes it harder for him to integrate with his new team-mates because, while they are on the training pitch, he is inside.
"We aren't putting a timescale on when he will be available but, hopefully, it will be sooner than later because he is a defender with great experience and a lot of quality who will add to the squad."
There was better news on striker Jamie Vardy and French winger Anthony Knockaert.
Vardy was taken off during Saturday's friendly at Preston as a precaution after picking up a thigh strain, while Knockaert was helped off the pitch with an ankle knock at Rotherham on Tuesday night.
It is not clear yet whether either will be available to face Werder Bremen at the King Power Stadium on Saturday as City complete their pre-season fixtures, but Shakespeare said both should not be out of action for long.
"We decided not to risk Jamie at Rotherham and he is still being assessed, but we are hopeful to have him in training later this week," said Shakespeare.
"Initially, Anthony's injury doesn't look serious and he will also be assessed. If he has his way, he will be training again immediately.
"He had a little knock on it earlier but said he was okay. We brought him off at the end as a precaution.
"Any injuries in pre-season are a concern but during the past few seasons we have been quite good with that sort of thing.
"We don't want injuries going into the start of the season, and the players will want to make sure they are ready to say 'pick me' as they fight for places."