Injury has ruled Waitakere United captain Danny Hay out of the O-League soccer final return leg in Auckland on Sunday.
The former All Whites defender fractured his ankle in their New Zealand Football Championship (NZFC) grand final victory three weeks ago but did not realise its severity untilscans last week.
They revealed a small fracture, leaving a chip floating in the ankle joint.
It means he will miss the crucial match against Kossa FC at Douglas Field, with the Solomon Islands club having won the first leg 3-1 in Honiara.
Waitakere United head coach Chris Milicich was coming to terms with the loss of his experienced defender.
"The news is not good on Danny and I have effectively crossed his name out from my thinking," Milicich said.
"It is a blow for him personally and also for us as a team but we will box on and are fortunate to have great experience and quality to call upon in this sort of scenario.
"The onus will fall on the likes of Neil Emblen and Jonathan Perry to marshal the side as they have done all year."
The approach from Milicich to Sunday's game was to attack from the outset to overturn the two-goal deficit.
The match has huge implications, with the US$500,000 ($645,161) prize for being O-League champions spread across the eight NZFC clubs and New Zealand Football.
The winners will be Oceania's representatives at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan in December.
