Porter was forced off in the 18th minute of United's 2-1 home win against Sydney FC on Saturday evening and has targeted the club's next home game, the round 8 clash against Melbourne Victory on September 26 as his comeback date.

United's physiotherapist, David Battersby, diagnosed the injury as a grade one tear of the striker's left calf muscle, with rehabilitation to begin immediately and Porter likely to resume running as early as next week.

After a string of eye-catching performances so far this season, the former Socceroo said while the injury was frustrating, he was thankful to only face a short amount of time on the sidelines.

"You don't want to be injured at any time, but I guess the only bonus is that it's not a full muscle tear, just a minor one and I should be back soon," Porter said. "I don't really recall any particular moment when I felt it go. We had a corner that was cleared and when I went to take off it just didn't feel right.

"Rather than playing on and maybe making it worse I decided to deal with it straight away, which of course was best for me and best for the team because I wasn't 100 per cent.

"You have to be careful with muscle tear injuries. I've had them before and know that caution is required or they can get worse very quickly if you play on.

"It's frustrating of course - I was doing most things right on the field and it's going well for both me and the team. The good thing for the team is that we have players who can come in and do the job - that's what having a good squad is all about."

Gold Coast's next A-League test - without Porter - comes against Perth Glory on Sunday.