Ahly's defender Rami Rabia will be out of action for weeks due to a groin injury that requires intensive treatment, the club announced on Sunday.

''Rabia will be sidelined for weeks," Ahly's football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz said on Sunday, according to the club's official website.

"Scans revealed that he suffers a muscle tear," he added.

The international defender, who has just returned after two months of absence due to a knee injury while playing with the Pharaohs in the World Cup qualifiers against Ghana last October, sustained his recent injury in Ahly's 3-0 win over archrivals Zamalek in the Cairo derby on Monday.

Rabia's injury comes to raise Ahly's defensive problems as defender Mohamed Naguib is also out of action with a muscle injury and fellow Saad Samir said he is not fully recovered from his injury despite his presence in the Cairo derby and the Egypt Super Cup.

Ahly will face Talae El-Gaish in a league game on Tuesday. The title holders are second in the league table with 39 points, two points behind leaders Ismaily, but they still have two matches in hand.

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