Newcastle's Coloccini out with back injury

Newcastle, England – Newcastle defender Fabricio Coloccini could be out for up to seven weeks with an injury to his back, it was announced Thursday.

The 31-year-old broke two bones in his back after landing awkwardly in the club's 4-2 defeat of Southampton in Premier League play on Feb. 24. Coloccini has returned to his native Argentina for a week to work with his national association's medical team.

"[Coloccini] has gone back to Argentina," said Newcastle boss Alan Pardew. "There's no treatment he can have - he's broken two of the bones in his back. We think it's going to be anything between three and seven weeks. He's gone back for a week."