The Suva football side has suffered a major blow ahead of next week’s Pacific Cup in New Zealand.

National Under 20 and Under 23 forward Nickel Chand has been ruled out of the tournament.

Chand, who was thought to have suffered minor injuries during training, had been rested for the past few days but coach Gurjit Singh says he will not travel as the side does not want to take any risks.

The capital city side leaves for New Zealand next Tuesday and face defending champions NZFFI All Stars in their first match on Wednesday at 9pm.

Nadi, Rewa and Lautoka are the other three teams representing Fiji at the tournament.

You can catch live commentaries from the tournament on Radio Fiji Two with the voice of soccer, Raymond Stoddart.