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The Lithuanian national team will have to start the 2008 European Championship qualifiers without one of its leaders - striker from Edinburgh, who will be sidelined for at least a month due to a thigh injury.
The experienced 31-year-old player suffered a recurrence of an old injury during the Lithuanian national team camp - medical exams revealed a slight tear in his thigh muscle. Due to this injury, he will miss Lithuania's matches against Italy and Scotland, as well as the "Hearts" club's UEFA Cup first round game against Prague's "Sparta".
"I really wanted to represent the Lithuanian national team, but this renewed injury stopped me. I won't be able to play for at least a month," regretted E. Jankauskas.
The loss of E. Jankauskas to the Lithuanian team led by Algimantas Liubinskas is especially significant because another key team striker, Robertas Poškus, who has been dealing with health issues this season, may also be unable to play due to injury.
With Igoris Morinas and Tomas Radzinevičius, who showed promise in the friendly match against Moldova, not called up to the national team, and Tadas Labukas likely to represent the youth team, the goal-scoring burden will likely fall on Tomas Danilevičius, with support from the only remaining striker Povilas Lukšys and possibly Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, who scored successfully in the Baltic Cup tournament.
As previously announced, the Lithuanian national team will definitely not have the suspended defender Deividas Šemberas and goalkeeper Edgaras Česnauskis from Russia, while "Hearts" recent addition Marius Žaliūkas and the trio of defenders from "Metalurgs" - Darius Miceika, Tomas Tamošauskas, and Mindaugas Kalonas - have returned to the team.
