Omiya Ardija announced that midfielder Akihiro Ienaga will need three to four weeks in order to recover from a right knee injury on Wednesday.
His injury came in Ardija’s MEIJI YASUDA J2 League opening win against Zweigen Kanazawa, in which Ienaga scored the match’s lone goal in the 86th minute.
Daigo Watanabe will likely take the former Gamba Osaka man’s place in the time he is out.
Kiyishi Okuma’s side were relegated from the top flight at the end of the 2014 campaign, and are one of several promotion hopefuls this year.
The Saitama outfit presently sit 13th in the standings after winning one game and losing one in the first two rounds of the new J.League season.