Werder Bremen have suffered another injury blow ahead of Sunday’s Bundesliga clash with VfB Stuttgart, with Victor Boniface sidelined after sustaining a knee injury during training.

The Nigerian forward, currently on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, suffered a painful knee contusion earlier in the week. Head coach Horst Steffen explained the incident on Friday, telling Bremen t-online: “It was a knee-to-knee collision in a challenge. And that really hurt.”

While the club has not provided a timeline for his recovery, Boniface is expected to miss more than just the upcoming match. The 24-year-old has struggled to find form at Bremen and is yet to score this season.

His exclusion from Nigeria’s final 28-man squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations—after initially making the 54-man provisional list—has further compounded his difficult campaign.

Boniface joins a growing list of unavailable players, with Mitchell Weiser, Felix Agu, and Maximilian Wöber all sidelined with long-term injuries. The mounting setbacks leave Steffen with limited options at a critical stage of the season, likely forcing him to rethink his tactical approach as Bremen look to stay competitive in the league.