has sidelined the Bermudian striker.

The latest setback is a pulled stomach muscle on the left side, which he initially picked up in a match but which was further aggravated in training on Friday with a sudden twist.

It was serious enough to keep him out of Saturday's 3-0 home win over Luton Town and could keep him out of action for two or three weeks.

"I had a scan on it, because when I initially did it I was struggling to breath, so they were making sure there was nothing wrong with my ribs,'' explained Goater yesterday.

"On the X-ray, which obviously doesn't show muscle, the doctors have come to the conclusion that it's a torn muscle. In the last two days I've been struggling to sit down and get up, just getting out of bed was a lot of trouble.'' The injury will rob Bristol City of their top scorer for tonight's home leg against Premier League team Leeds United in the second round of the League Cup. Leeds won 3-1 in the first leg.

Even without Goater on Saturday the team won 3-0 against Luton Town as Steve Torpey netted twice and Mickey Bell the other.

"Every time I get injured we seem to score goals,'' said Goater. "Although it was 3-0 it looked as though it could have been six. Obviously I'm upset because I'm thinking I could have pinched a goal there. It makes a difference at the end of the season.

"Last year I missed eight games and I was upset with that. I'm hoping I don't miss too many games because I want to get over that 25 mark.

"It takes you two or three games to get back to sharpness so the quicker I can return the better. But it's a delicate situation, you use the stomach muscles for everything and you are not even aware of it.''