Daniel Sturridge left West Bromwich Albion's 3-0 defeat away at Chelsea on Monday with a hamstring injury but manager Alan Pardew does not believe the on-loan striker will miss significant time.
Sturridge, who joined West Brom on loan from Liverpool in January, left the game after just three minutes because of the injury and was replaced by Jay Rodriguez.
Pardew said that the striker is likely to be unavailable for the FA Cup game against Southampton on Saturday .
"We are hoping it is not that bad," Pardew told Sky Sports after the game. "It happened very early in the game, but we don't think it is a tear. It seems to be a strain, which will probably keep him out of the FA Cup game. Hopefully, fingers crossed, in a couple of weeks, he'll be OK."
The 28-year-old has been hoping to be able to use the loan spell to get additional playing time and be part of the conversation as Gareth Southgate, who was in attendance at Stamford Bridge, chooses his squad for the World Cup in Russia this summer.
"[Sturridge] was distraught," Pardew said at a postgame news conference. "The way he's worked at our place has been of the highest order. He's absolutely devastated because he wants this period to be a success for himself and for West Brom."
Pardew considered the signing a "coup" -- West Brom agreed to pay a £2 million fee as well as the player's wages of £120,000 a week, sources told ESPN FC -- after Sturridge made just nine Premier League appearances, with five starts, for Liverpool this season.
It was his third appearance for West Brom since the move and his second start after he played all 90 minutes of a 3-2 defeat at home against Southampton on Feb. 3.
"In training he was really sharp," Pardew said. "Not many strikers can score goals like he can from tight areas, as Hazard did. It might have made the difference. I know this place very well, and we needed to take one of those chances.
"We knew Chelsea were slightly wounded, so we put high pressure on them, took some risks in terms of our set-up hoping to get an early chance. We have got to win games, and score the goals to win games. We have got to hope Daniel's injury isn't too bad."