Eintracht Frankfurt striker Ioannis Amanatidis is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after undergoing knee surgery.

The Greece international will spend the next few days in a local clinic, where he must rest the knee completely, before starting his comeback. However, it will be several months at least before he can return.

The 27-year-old missed the whole of the second half of last season due to a problem with the same knee and the current injury is an after-effect of the operation he underwent last December.

Eintracht coach Michael Skibbe has once again called on his club to show more ambition. Skibbe has previously admitted his frustration at the board's transfer policy - most notably over their refusal to sanction a move for former Schalke midfielder Lincoln in the summer, and two consecutive 4-0 defeats has seen the issue arise once more.

You need to do a bit more, otherwise Frankfurt will not be playing for a place between 10th and 14th, but between 14th and 18th.
Eintracht Frankfurt coach Michael Skibbe

Eintracht were hammered by both Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal and Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, leaving Skibbe frustrated. "It is not always enough to just say that the others play better than us or have more scope, you have always got to do something about it," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "We need to rethink things and make changes in the club."

Skibbe is worried that Frankfurt will only get worse if they don't start to show more belief in their ability sooner rather than later. "I came here to lead a revolution, but it is not enough to just promise attacking football or more points than last season," he continued.

"You need to do a bit more, otherwise Frankfurt will not be playing for a place between 10th and 14th, but between 14th and 18th. We need changes and these have got to be well-prepared and timed right. When (Ioannis) Amanatidis, (Patrick) Ochs and Chris are all out, we are 20 per cent worse."

After making a promising start to the season, Frankfurt have slipped to 11th, although they are still closer to the top five than they are to the bottom three.