Portugal’s Silva has been knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers against Ireland

Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva will miss Thursday’s World Cup qualifier away to Ireland due to “muscle problems”, coach Fernando Santos told reporters on Wednesday.

Silva, who has been at his best this season at Manchester City and won the Premier League derby against rival Manchester United at the weekend, missed training sessions on Monday and was also out on Tuesday.

“I don’t count on him. He has muscle complaints. I don’t think he has the conditions to go to this match. We think he will be fine for Serbia (Sunday),” Santos said.

READ: Spain is struggling with injuries ahead of the decisive knockouts

“He arrived tired, complaining, he has a lot of games on him and he couldn’t go to training, but he is recovering well and we hope and believe that he will be able to play here with Serbia.”

The match against Ireland in Dublin is decisive for Portugal, who are behind the leader Serbia in Group A by one point but have a game in hand.