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Bulgaria without injured Berbatov

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SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov will miss Bulgaria's Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovenia on Wednesday due to a groin injury that could keep him out for two weeks.

The 25-year-old, who joined the English club from Bayer Leverkusen for 16 million euros in May, needed a pain-killing injection to play just over an hour of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Romania in Group G.

"I suffered the injury during Tottenham's match against Sheffield United in the Premiership," Berbatov said, recalling the game on August 22.

"I thought it was over, but unfortunately I felt some pain before the game with Romania," he added.

"I still don't know exactly how long I'll remain out but perhaps it'll be 10 days to two weeks. It's a pity that I won't be able to help my team-mates in the Slovenia match."

Along with international duty, Berbatov will almost certainly miss Tottenham's league game at Manchester United on Saturday.

Berbatov's injury is another blow for Bulgaria coach Hristo Stoichkov, who has lost a fourth player from his original squad.

Croatian-born Igor Tomasic has been forced out after an administrative problem with his Bulgarian nationality, while Wigan Athletic's Svetoslav Todorov suffered a leg injury and did not make the trip to the Black Sea port of Constanta.

Stoichkov called up goalkeeper Stoian Kolev on Sunday to replace Georgi Petkov, who took a kick in the head during the match with Romania.

He later called-up Levski Sofia striker Hristo Yovov and midfielder Dimitar Telkiiski to added to his diminished squad.


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Berbatov's groin injury is likely to keep him out of action for a couple of weeks.

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