Sunderland manager Jack Ross has revealed that striker Charlie Wyke's injury is worse than they initially feared and will be out for 9-12 weeks, the club reported on Twitter.

The striker suffered a recurrence of the knee injury he carried into his time at the Stadium of Light on Saturday against Burton Albion and had to be substituted before halftime.

"He has a recurrence of the injury he had in pre-season, and if anything, it’s slightly worse," Ross revealed at his pre-match press conference.

"He’ll be out for around 9-12 weeks. It doesn’t require surgery, but he’ll have to wear a brace for a few weeks.

"It’ll be Christmas or New Year until we have him back.”

Sunderland suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 by Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.

Despite this, though, they still sit in fourth place in the table but are now four points off Peterborough United who occupy the final automatic promotion spot at the moment.

Ross takes his side to Rochdale on Saturday and will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Keith Hill's side.

The verdict

This is a big blow for the Black Cats and heaps an awful lot of pressure on Josh Maja to continue his fine form.

Wyke was signed to be Ross's main man this season so for him to miss half the season is a real blow to their promotion hopes.

The Christmas period is often when seasons are made and broken so for him to miss the majority of this period will be a real test of his manager's ability.