Scott Chipperfield's World Cup hopes are hanging by a thread after the Socceroos veteran learned he faces three months on the sidelines due to a torn ankle ligament.
The Bellambi product underwent surgery last Friday and will arrive home on Sunday to start rehab in the hope of recovering before South Africa 2010.
He faces six weeks in a moon boot before he can return to training - leaving just two months and a handful of games to regain match fitness.
It gives Chipperfield little time to impress national coach Pim Verbeek before the World Cup starts in mid-June.
"I'm a bit worried," the former Wollongong Wolf said from his Swiss base last night.
"It's not good timing, hopefully I'll be back playing by March - that leaves me a couple of months before the World Cup.
"I can't have any mishaps. It's going to be tough because I don't know how many games I will be able to play in before the training camp."
The 63-cap veteran has already targeted the March 3 Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia in Brisbane for his return to the national fold.
"I need to be back playing by March because there will probably only be one more national team game between then and the World Cup," Chipperfield said.
The 33-year-old suffered the injury while training just under a fortnight ago - he played for FC Basel the following weekend, but a subsequent MRI revealed the extent of the damage.
The injury is all the more galling for Chipperfield as he has hit a rich vein of form for club and country after a hamstring injury ruined his preseason.
Chipperfield played both of Australia's recent Asian Cup qualifiers against Oman and helped Basel surge to second place in the Swiss Super League - and a strong position in their Europa League group - before the training ground mishap.
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