Marcos Senna absence is the worst news - Ernesto Valverde

Marcos Senna absence is the worst news - Ernesto Valverde

Villarreal manager Ernesto Valverde has described the loss of influential midfielder Marcos Senna to a hamstring injury as "the worst news" ahead a busy schedule for the Castellon outfit.

Senna is likely to miss the next couple of weeks with the injury he suffered during Spain's 3-0 win over Estonia in midweek that sealed their place in next summer's World Cup finals.

Villarreal host Real Mallorca at El Madrigal on Saturday to start a schedule congested by the start of their Europa League campaign in midweek.

"It's the worst news we could have," Valverde told the club's website.

"It is a problem for us because we have seven games in 22 days and we need all our players to be 100%.

"Marcos is an important player for us and it will cost us while we wait for his recovery."

Senna had been forced off by injury after just 27 minutes of Villarreal's 1-1 opening-day draw with Osasuna and the Yellow Submarine had hoped he may be overlooked for national team duty given Spain's commanding position in their group.

However, after missing the 5-0 rout of Belgium last weekend Senna played a full 90 minutes against Estonia during which he re-injured himself.

Valverde refused to criticise Spain boss Vincente del Bosque for calling on Senna, however his absence was a big loss.

"Firstly we are happy for our players to go and play for their national team because to have players at that level reflects well on the club," he added.

"But in this case it is clear things were different because we all knew Senna had a problem when we had to withdraw him in the 27th minute against Osasuna.

"We do not want to create any controversy but the reality is that we lose the player for several weeks."

International commitments may also conspire to force Nilmar out of the weekend's game after he scored a hat-trick in Brazil's 4-2 win over Chile in Salvador de Bahia on Wednesday night.

The striker only returned to Spain on Friday and Valverde said he would wait to decide on the final make-up of his team.

"With Nilmar we will wait to see what comes after playing the entire game with Brazil," he added.

"We have to make good selections and choose the right team if we are to win on Sunday."

Mallorca got off to a winning start to the season when they defeated newly-promoted Xerez 2-0 and have since strengthened their squad with the addition of midfielder Julio Alvarez as well as loan signings Paulo Pezzolano (Liverpool) and Borja Valero (West Brom).

Boss Gregorio Manzano has said, however, that none of those three will start on Saturday because "they are not ready to play 90 minutes".

Manzano indicated Josemi was set to play for the first time this season after injury, while on-loan Gremio defender Felipe Mattoni is an unlikely starter after leaving training early on Friday.