Madrid, Oct 18 (IANS): Real Sociedad has suffered an important injury setback as Portuguese international striker Andre Silva has suffered a muscle injury that looks likely to sideline him until the next international break in November.

The striker had to pull up in Monday's training session after feeling pain in his right calf muscle and the club confirmed it in a communique on Tuesday, reports Xinhua.

"Andre Silva has an injury in his soleus muscle in his right leg, produced in yesterday's (Monday's) training session. He has begun physiotherapy and the return to activity will be progressive, depending on the characteristics of the injury and its evolution," Real Sociedad said on its website.

It's a blow to the club and the striker, who arrived on loan from RB Leipzig at the end of the transfer window, to cover for Alexander Sorloth, who opted to join Villarreal after two successful seasons with Real Sociedad.

Silva arrived carrying an injury which spotted him playing until the club's last two games before the international break, but had been training normally and was expected to form part of the squad for the weekend match against Mallorca.

With the team from San Sebastian facing a packed fixture calendar in the coming weeks, with a vital Champions League trip to play Benfica next week and a game at home to FC Barcelona on November 4, his absence limits the options of coach Imanol Alguacil to rotate his squad and rest players.