Melbourne Victory today advises that midfielder Keisuke Honda has sustained a hamstring injury, which will likely see him miss four weeks.

The former Japanese international underwent scans on Wednesday, which revealed the strain in his right hamstring.

Keisuke was close to playing against Wellington on December 28, but the Club’s high performance and medical staff felt he needed more time to recover from hamstring tightness emanating from his lower back.

After specialist consultation, he re-joined the group and completed full training on Monday, before sustaining the injury during Tuesday’s session. He was excused from training on Wednesday to receive scans, which revealed a strain had occurred.

Keisuke will now commence a rehabilitation program.

“It’s disappointing for Keisuke, his teammates, the Club and our members and fans,” said Head Coach Kevin Muscat.

“He was close to playing last weekend - but we ultimately erred on the side of caution and allowed him an extra week to recover.

“He resumed full training with the group this week, with the intent to play against Western Sydney.

“While there wasn’t a specific incident of note, Keisuke reported tightness in the area, so we again sent him for scans and received the results late in the day

“While this isn’t the news we wanted coming into a busy period of games, we do have some players coming back into the frame for selection, which is a positive and will assist the group.”

The Club understands Keisuke’s recovery is of great interest to many people, so we will provide updates when appropriate.