SUNDERLAND could be without Patrick Roberts for more than a month after the winger was forced off in the closing stages of this evening’s 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town.

Roberts was one of the Black Cats’ brighter lights at the John Smith’s Stadium, causing problems down the right-hand side after he came on as a 60th-minute substitute for Abdoullah Ba.

However, he was unable to complete the game after suffering a hamstring injury that forced him to trudge disconsolately to the sidelines.

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Roberts suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the season, and was sidelined for around five weeks, and Michael Beale fears the winger will be looking at a similar lay-off this time around.

Beale said: “We’ve obviously had a disaster because we’ve lost Paddy for the last ten minutes and that meant we had to play with ten men. It just made it into an even worse night.

“It’s his hamstring, and I’m told it’s the same as he did earlier in the season. He missed four or five weeks earlier in the season, and he feels it’s the same.

“It’s a really big shame because I thought he was bright when he came on. He came inside and the defender did fantastic to block it, and then he went outside on another one. We looked much stronger when he came on, so he’ll be a big loss.

“What’s he played for me? Two-and-a-half games now? And probably, that’s going to be it for a period of time now, so someone has to step up, for sure.”