Egypt will be without influential defender Rami Rabia for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

The 24-year-old center-back Al Ahly player picked an injury and will be out for six weeks ruling him out of the continent’s biggest football event which starts in three week time.

“Rabia picked up an injury in training on Sunday. A scan has shown he will be sidelined for six weeks,” Al Ahly announced.

Pharaohs coach Hector Cuper was hoping to have the stalwart defender available to feature in the tournament but he will remain in the treatment room.

Cuper’s Squad

Latest reports from Cairo indicate that Cuper has fowarded his full Nations Cup squad to the Egyptian Football Federations after the latest round of Egyptian league fixtures which ended on Thursday with the derby between Zamalek and Al Ahly in Cairo.

The Pharaohs will play a friendly international against Tunisia on 8 January in Cairo in front of 100,000 fans as part of their build-up to the Nations Cup.

Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El-Shennawy, Essam El-Hadary, Sherif Ekramy, Mohamed Awad.

Defenders: Ahmed Fathi, Ahmed Elmohamady, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy , Karim Hafez, Hamada Tolba, Ahmed Hegazy, Saad Samir, Ahmed Dweidar, Ali Gabr, Omar Gaber .

Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Ibrahim Salah, Abdallah El-Said, Amr Warda, Ramadan Sobhi , Mohamed Ibrahim, Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet’.

Forwards: Ahmed Hassan ‘Koka’, Ahmed Gomaa, Marwan Mohsen, Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim ‘Kahraba’, Mohamed Salah .