Van der Vaart facing 3 to 4 weeks out with injury

HAMBURG, Germany (AP)

Rafael van der Vaart believes a suspected torn muscle in his right thigh will keep him out of Bundesliga action for at least three or four weeks.

Van der Vaart suffered the injury in Hamburger SV's 2-0 defeat at Fortuna Duesseldorf on Friday, when he went off after 32 minutes.

The Dutch midfielder received a kick to the back of his thigh during a tussle with Fortuna goalkeeper Fabian Giefer, and pulled up in apparent pain after another tussle with Adam Bodzek.

Van der Vaart says ''it feels like a torn muscle. It's not an injury that you can shake off in a week.''

Hamburg has failed to score in the Bundesliga without the Dutchman on the pitch this season. He has contributed one goal and five assists.