SUNDERLAND have been rocked by a fresh injury blow after centre-half Russell Anderson was ruled out for up to three months following ankle surgery.

The Scotland international, who has made just two appearances for the Black Cats since making a £100,000 move from Aberdeen in the summer, injured his ankle in August's Carling Cup defeat at Luton.

It was initially hoped that the ligament damage would heal without the need for surgery, but subsequent scans revealed that an operation was the best course of action.

"Russell has had an operation to reconstruct his ankle ligaments and will be out for a while," confirmed Black Cats boss Roy Keane.

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