SUNDERLAND’s problems deepened this evening when Adnan Januzaj was ruled out for at least six weeks with an ankle ligament injury.

Januzaj, who only moved to the Stadium of Light on a season-long loan from Manchester United in August, damaged his ankle during last weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace.

The winger underwent a scan this morning, with the results revealing significant ligament damage.

Januzaj will be sidelined for at least a month-and-a-half, ruling him out of league games against West Brom, Stoke, West Ham, Arsenal and Bournemouth as well as the EFL Cup fourth-round tie at Southampton.

With Steven Pienaar nursing a muscular problem sustained last weekend, and Fabio Borini also set to be sidelined for another two months, David Moyes is extremely short of attacking-midfield options ahead of Saturday’s home game with West Brom.

Duncan Watmore is likely to return to the starting line-up against the Baggies, with Januzaj’s absence also raising the possibility of Wahbi Khzari being offered a route back to the first team.

Khazri was an integral part of Sunderland’s survival push in the second half of last season, but is yet to start a league game under Moyes, who is understood to have been critical of his work-rate.