Samuel ruled out for three weeks

Inter Milan have suffered a blow with the news defender Walter Samuel has been ruled out of action for three weeks.

Argentina international Samuel was forced off seven minutes before the interval in Inter’s 2-1 win over Siena on Wednesday, and subsequent scans have revealed a muscle strain in his right leg.

After picking up a booking at San Siro, Samuel would have missed this weekend’s meeting with Udinese, but due to the injury the veteran centre-back will also be unavailable for clashes against Fiorentina and Cesena.

Samuel, 34, has been a mainstay of the Inter defence since arriving at the club from Real Madrid in 2005.

His absence is likely to hurt the late-season fortunes of a team which has not given up hope of securing a place in next season’s Champions League.

Inter are seventh in Serie A, six points behind Lazio, who occupy the final Champions League qualification berth in third.