Kevin Schade on the pitch in pain after pulling up injuredKevin Schade was injured before the match against Everton and needed treatment on the pitch

Brentford striker Kevin Schade has been ruled out for several months with a groin injury which requires surgery.

“He will be out for months,” said Bees manager Thomas Frank. “It’s a blow, of course it is.”

Frank also said defender Ben Mee is out for “some weeks” with a muscle injury, while midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard will see a knee specialist this week.

Schade, who joined from Freiburg on loan in January before making a £22m permanent move in the summer, has made 25 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal.

“He’s a player we have big expectations for and he was starting to show some of his fantastic abilities with a goal against Crystal Palace,” added Frank.

“But this is football, this happens. There will be challenges that we have to work our way through and we will do that.”

Schade, Mee and Damsgaard join Rico Henry, Shandon Baptiste and Josh Dasilva on the Bees’ injury list, while striker Ivan Toney will not return from his gambling ban until January.

Despite the absentees, Frank says he will put out as strong a team as possible for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third round tie at home to Arsenal.

“Every team has injuries, and with Ivan Toney’s ban included, we have seven players out,” he said.

“I still think I can put a very strong team out there every game, but maybe we can’t change it as much during the game because the depth is not as good.

“I have big belief in our young players, but they need time to settle in. I will put as strong a team as possible out there tomorrow. It’s very important that we do our best to see how far we can get. We would like to go on a cup run.”

Brentford are currently 13th in the Premier League after taking six points from their opening six matches.

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