Socceroo midfielder Mile Jedinak is facing up to three weeks on the sidelines but should recover from a groin problem in time to play at the World Cup.
Jedinak suffered the injury playing for Crystal Palace in a 2-2 draw with Fulham on Sunday, the final day of the Premier League season.
Likely to be named Australia's captain for the tournament in Brazil next month, he set to miss the farewell friendly against South Africa on May 26, but received a positive prognosis from scans undergone this week.
"It's a little bit sore and it's going to mean I miss a couple of weeks or so, but I just got the scan results back and honestly the news is probably as good as I could have hoped for," Jedinak told News Corp.
"The doctors say I'm looking at two to three weeks, so I have to concentrate now on doing everything in my power to be ready in that time-frame.
"It came on all of a sudden in the game, just as I went to take off for a header I knew something was wrong. It was more precautionary than anything, there was no point in carrying on, and I'm seriously glad I did come off now."
Jedinak is now likely to be delayed in joining the Socceroos for their pre-tournament training camp in Gosford, which starts on Thursday.
"I'm definitely coming back to Australia at some point in the next couple of weeks, the club and the national team staff are just working out the details now of exactly what the rehab will be."
Head coach Ange Postecoglou is set to announce his expanded 30-man training squad on Wednesday.
The final chance to see the Socceroos on home soil before they head to Brazil 2014 will be when they take on South Africa in a farewell game on May 26 in Sydney. Tickets for the match, presented by NAB, are on sale now. Click here to secure yours today.