Wanderers striker Brendon Santalab says he's "gutted" at the prospect of another stint on the sidelines after re-injuring his shoulder against Adelaide United on Saturday.

The Wollongong junior will meet a specialist later this week to determine if he will play any further part in Western Sydney's season.

He spent more than three months out of the game earlier in the campaign after injuring the same shoulder in the Wanderers' Asian Champions League final triumph.

He returned to the squad after the Asian Cup break and had been in top form, scoring twice in as many games before Saturday's 2-1 defeat in Adelaide.

The 32-year-old said the injury was a tough pill to swallow.

"I am spewing. I was feeling awesome. It was the best I have ever felt in my career after coming back from the first shoulder injury so for this to happen is just gutting," he said.

"I guess it is just a pattern that happens with some players."

The injury occurred less than 10 minutes into Saturday's game after Santalab fell awkwardly in a challenge.

Despite being in obvious pain, he battled on for more than 20 minutes before being replaced by Tomi Juric.

During that time he laid on the assist for the Wanderers' opening goal.

"It was hard to go off. I really wanted to try what I could to help the team," Santalab said.

"When you see the team down the bottom of the competition and you are up 1-0, you want to do everything you can to help.

"But when I went down I knew straight away. I knew something was drastically wrong."

Regardless of the results of this week's test, Santalab was hungry to begin his rehabilitation as soon as possible.

"The sooner I can start doing rehab and get back to football, the better," he said.

"The hunger is still there to get back on the paddock, so I want to put in the work to get back out there," he said.

Santalab's misfortune opens the door for Young Socceroo Kerem Bulut to join the squad as an injury replacement.