Podolski facing month out

Cologne coach Stale Solbakken received a blow on Sunday, with news star striker Lukas Podolski faces four weeks on the sidelines.

The Germany international opened the scoring after four minutes of play in Cologne’s Bundesliga match with Schalke on Saturday.

But that was where the joy ended for Solbakken, with two second-half goals from Ciprian Marica and further strikes from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Marco Hoeger seeing Cologne on the wrong end of a 4-1 thumping.

Compounding the bad day for the club – who are fifth from the bottom of the Bundesliga and just three points clear of the relegation play-off position – was an injury suffered by Podolski, who complained of pain in his left foot after the match.

Scans have revealed the 26-year-old German international could face a month on the sidelines.

“He will be unavailable for quite a while. He could miss three to four weeks,” Solbakken told Express.

Podolski has been in excellent form in the 2011/12 campaign, and has already netted 15 goals in 18 Bundesliga appearances.