Marco Reus has been ruled out of Borussia Dortmund's match against Bayern Munich on Saturday due to a heel problem.
Reus, 27, was expected to return following a six-month spell on the sidelines with an adductor muscle injury. But Dortmund confirmed on Friday that the Germany international will have to wait to make his comeback.
"He has minor heel problems," the club said in a statement distributed to German media. "We don't want to take any risks following his long injury layoff."
He resumed team training in October, and sporting director Michael Zorc had told kicker earlier this week that Reus was "well on the way" and "fired up" to return to action against Bayern Munich.
But Reus missed training on Thursday, and Bild reported that coach Thomas Tuchel had granted Reus a short break before Friday's final session ahead of the Bayern match.
When asked about Reus' absence during his prematch news conference, Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti said: "That's tragic indeed. An injury is never nice. Reus is a fantastic player. But I think that Dortmund have the option to play other good players."
Dortmund trail Bundesliga leaders Bayern by six points, and currently sit fifth in the table. Leipzig, Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin all are ahead of last year's runners-up after 10 rounds of games.