Barcelona players must step up & cover Messi - Luis Enrique

The Argentina international is set to miss up to two months with knee ligament damage, but his manager has called on his team-mates to step up

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has insisted that Lionel Messi's  absence through injury will not have any effect on his side's style of play, though he has called on the rest of his squad to raise their game.

Messi damaged the internal collateral ligament in his left knee early on in Barca's 2-1 La Liga win over Las Palmas on Saturday, and is expected to be out for up to two months.

Nevertheless, Luis Enrique is confident Barca can cope without their star man and has urged his other players to step up their game.

"The fact that Messi is injured does not mean we will change our style of play," he said at his post-match press conference.

"It is always sad when a player gets injured. But we all know how much Messi means for this team.