Australia have suffered a huge blow ahead of next month’s Asian Cup with confirmation star midfielder Aaron Mooy will miss the tournament due to a knee injury.

Huddersfield confirmed on Wednesday the 28-year-old had suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee during last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal.

The Premier League club say Mooy will be sidelined until February, ruling him out of the Asian Cup, which kicks off in the UAE on 5 January.

“I’m gutted to be missing an important time for club and country,” Mooy told Huddersfield’s official website. “We’ve got a lot of fixtures over the Christmas period at Huddersfield Town, but I back the team to continue our good performances and get the results that we’re targeting.

“I’m also sad that this injury will rule me out of the Asian Cup. I’d like to wish the Socceroos all the best as they head to the UAE. I’ll be supporting them from afar.”

It’s the second significant injury for the Socceroos after young winger Daniel Arzani tore an anterior cruciate ligament on his debut for Scottish club Celtic last month. Arzani’s club mate Tom Rogic has reportedly also suffered a knee injury but Socceroos staff understand it won’t affect his availability for the Asian Cup.

With Mooy out, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold faces a selection headache before he names his 23-man squad for the tournament next month.

In-form Melbourne Victory pair Terry Antonis and 2015 Asian Cup hero James Troisi are both believed to be in contention for the squad, along with young Perth winger Chris Ikonomidis.

Squad regulars Massimo Luongo and Jackson Irvine will likely be the pair contending to replace Mooy in Arnold’s starting XI.

Australia kick off their Asian Cup defence against Jordan in Al Ain on 6 January.