Javier Hernandez will miss Leverkusen's match on Saturday against Darmstadt with a muscle tear in his gluteal muscles, the club announced on Wednesday.

Shortly before the hour mark, "Chicharito" was brought off in Leverkusen's cup defeat to Werder Bremen. He then received his diagnosis from the Leverkusen medical department on Wednesday.

Hernandez, who moved to Leverkusen from Manchester United in the summer, has scored 13 goals in the Bundesliga, including at least one goal in eight of his last 11 appearances. The Mexican international has partnered with Stefan Kiessling in each of the last seven of Leverkusen's matches, leaving Roger Schmidt now forced to find a different attacking combination.

The 27-year-old striker has had a fairly clean bill of health for most of his career, but did miss most of last summer with a collarbone injury which meant Hernandez only made three appearances - two in Champions League qualification - for Manchester United. Leverkusen have yet to release an expected return to action for the Mexican.

Despite Werder Bremen knocking them out of the German Cup, Leverkusen's fixture list continues to look busy. They will have a two-legged tie against Sporting CP in the Europa League with a match against 2nd-place Borussia Dortmund sandwiched in between.