Charlton Athletic announced that forward Igor Vetokele is set to miss the start of the new League One season after sustaining an injury in a pre-season friendly.

In a statement shared by the Charlton twitter account, explained that the 26-year-old striker has an “acute tear in the plantar fascia on the underside of his foot”, meaning he is likely to miss around eight weeks of football.

The injury was sustained in Charlton’s friendly against Welling United on Saturday.

Vetokele, who has spent the previous two seasons out on loan at Zulte Waregem and Sint-Truiden, was expected to make an impact in the first team this coming season, with high expectations from the Charlton faithful.

In the statement, Charlton manager Lee Bowyer stated: “It’s disappointing because he’s had a great start to the pre-season. The most important thing for me was to try and get through pre-season without any injuries but this is just a freak injury, something that you can’t control.

“He scored a good goal against QPR and did ok again at the weekend. He’s going to be a miss, he’s a good player.”

The excitement from Charlton fans about the possibility of seeing the Angolan international play will have to be put on hold until he recovers from the injury.

Here is how the Charlton Athletic fans reacted on Twitter to the news of the injury.