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Carl Robinson was pretty honest Saturday night after a 1-0 road loss to the New England Revolution.

“That doesn’t look good,” he said of Matias Laba’s knee injury, which forced the Argentine midfielder from the field partway through the first half.

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“It’s a serious injury,” he told TSN 1040.

A Whitecaps spokesman confirmed Sunday morning Laba would have an MRI and be evaluated by team medical staff this week.

Laba looked to hit his leg on the turf. He stayed down for a time, got some treatment, tried to play on, but was subbed off in the 29th minute.

Andrew Jacobson replaced him, getting back into the midfield, after having started three of the previous four games as a centre back.

If Laba is out long term, Jacobson will easily slot back into midfield. Earlier this season, he was starting to form a fine partnership with Tony Tchani. That was when Robinson was running out a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Laba operating alone as a defensive midfielder behind Tchani and Jacobson.