Wales international Sam Warburton has been hit by an injury setback a week ahead of the naming of the 2017 British and Irish Lions squad and tour captain.
Warburton was 2013 Lions captain and four years on, is again the frontrunner for the Lions captaincy in New Zealand.
The Cardiff Blues flanker is to miss the next six weeks, after suffering a knee injury in his club team's Guinness Pro 12 draw against Ulster last Friday.
However, the 28 year old is still expected to be fit for the Lions tour.
The Wales back row captained the Lions in Australia four years ago and is widely expected to take up the role for this summer's tour of New Zealand.
Lions head coach Warren Gatland will announce his squad on Wednesday April 19th, 2017, with the first tour match on June 3rd.
Recently, Ireland legend and ex-Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll backed Warburton for the Lions captaincy, saying: "Sam Warburton has become the bookies favourite - and rightly so in my opinion - for the title after some impressive performances over the past couple of months. With some question marks over his future in the Wales team, he answered his critics in emphatic style with a big tournament, in his less favoured position of blindside flanker."
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