Yoshinori Muto out for the season

Mainz striker Yoshinori Muto has reinjured his right knee ligaments and will miss the rest of his debut Bundesliga season.

The club, currently sat seventh in the Bundesliga table with as many games to play, confirmed on Thursday that Muto tore an exterior ligament in his knee during training as he was preparing for a possible comeback in the home match against Augsburg on Saturday. The Japan international first injured the knee in February.

Mainz head coach Martin Schmidt says Muto was "completely pain-free" before the new injury.

“You could tell how fired up he was to return to the pitch," explained Schmidt at a press conference on Thursday. "He was in rehab for six weeks, and then he spent the last few weeks slowly upping his workload until he was free of pain. It's tragic – for Yoshi and for my team.

"We all thought that he would be bolstering our attack once again after the international break. But we will have to deal with it. We wish him all the best and a speedy recovery,” said Schmidt.